Cygnus PFL switch jitter

The Cygnus Dual Beam Radiographic Facility consists of two identical radiographic sources: Cygnus 1 and Cygnus 2. Each source has the following X-ray output: 1-mm diameter spot size, 4 rads at 1 m, 50-ns full-width-half-maximum. The diode pulse has the following electrical specifications: 2.25 MV, 60 kA, 60 ns. This Radiographic Facility is located in an underground tunnel test area at the Nevada Test Site (NTS). The sources were developed to produce high-resolution images on subcritical tests performed at NTS. Subcritical tests are single-shot, high-value events. For this application, it is desirable to maintain a high level of reproducibility in source output. The major components of the Cygnus machines are Marx generator, water-filled pulse forming line (PFL), water-filled coaxial transmission line, three-cell inductive voltage adder, and rod-pinch diode. A primary source of fluctuation in Cygnus shot-to-shot performance may be jitter in breakdown of the main PFL switch, which is a “self-break” switch. The PFL switch breakdown time determines the peak PFL charging voltage, which ultimately affects the source X-ray spectrum and dose. Therefore, PFL switch jitter may contribute to shot-to-shot variation in these parameters, which are crucial to radiographic quality. In this paper we will present PFL switch jitter analysis for both Cygnus machines and present the correlation with dose. For this analysis, the PFL switch on each machine was maintained at a single gap setting, which has been used for the majority of shots at NTS. In addition the PFL switch performance for one larger switch gap setting will be examined.