Risetime sharpening using magnetic insulation in the aurora diode

Theoretical calculations indicate that Aurora diode geometrical reconfigurations that delay the onset of magnetic insulation should yield a decreased risetime. It is found that the use of anode falsework in the Aurora diode can easily decrease the nominal risetime of the beam current pulse from 50 ns to around 20 ns. The best results were achieved with Marx charge voltages in excess of 90 kV, using a 15-in A-K gap and a 10-in cathode-anode falsework overlap. Due to voltage ripples associated with impedance mismatches in the Aurora pulser, the limit of risetime improvements using the simple anode falsework approach has probably been reached