High current capacitor bank design for a hypervelocity particle accelerator

At the Space Power Institute at Auburn University a facility to simulate hypervelocity microparticles and thus learn how to minimize the impact damage of orbital debris is being developed. The hypervelocity scheme utilized is the exploding foil type, requiring a high-current source with a fast risetime. The pulsed power source consists of a 67 kJ capacitor bank, four solid dielectric switches, and a high-current vacuum feedthrough. Circuit simulation predicts an output current of 1.2 MA with a 0.8 s risetime. The high-current capacitor bank design is presented, and initial operation and circuit simulation experience is discussed