SYRINX technological program, developments and recent results

The future of PRS programmes is oriented towards very high pulsed power generators of few tens of MJ. At the present moment SATURN and mainly PBFA2-Z are at the edge of this range. It may happen that their technologies, even if they produce excellent results, are not easily extrapolable to higher power, in terms of cost, volume and efficiency. From this investigation, one may conclude that meeting requirements of future powerful plasma radiation sources needs to develop new technological concepts, in order to deliver the appropriate power to a Z-pinch load at affordable cost. This is the main motivation of the SYRINX program which was initiated by the French Defense Department in 1993. The Centre d´Etude de Gramat was asked to realize this research and development program in order to prepare the construction of future large pulsed power facilities for X-rays production which could be used by several customers. The technical specifications and program strategy for SYRINX are outlined as are the main components (HAEFELY-TRENCH capacitors, multigap multichannel coaxial switch and linear transformer driver prototype). The GSI generator prototype and plasma opening switch approach are discussed, as are diagnostics and numerical simulations.