High average power magnetic modulator for copper lasers

Magnetic compression circuits show the promise of long life for operation at high average powers and high repetition rates. When the Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation (AVLIS) Program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory needed new modulators to drive their higher power copper lasers in the Laser Demonstration Facility (LDF), existing technology using thyratron switched capacitor inversion circuits did not meet the goal for long lifetimes at the required power levels. We have demonstrated that magnetic compression circuits can achieve this goal. Improving thyratron lifetime is achieved by increasing the thyratron conduction time, thereby reducing the effect of cathode depletion. This paper describes a three stage magnetic modulator designed to provide a 60 kV pulse to a copper laser at a 4.5 kHz repetition rate. This modulator operates at 34 kW input power and has exhibited MTBF of =1000 hours when using thyratrons and even longer MTBFs with a series stack of SCRs for the main switch. Within this paper, the electrical and mechanical designs for the magnetic compression circuits are discussed as are the important performance parameters of lifetime and jitter. Ancillary circuits such as the charge circuit and reset circuit are shown.