NAPAC2022 - List of Authors (Atkinson, E.L.)

Paper	Title	Page
MOPA61	Modular Solid-State Switching and Arc Suppression for Vacuum Tube Bias Circuits	179
	E.L. Atkinson, T.J. Houlahan, B.E. Jurczyk, R.A. Stubbers Starfire Industries LLC, Champaign, USA
	In this work, we present operational and performance data for a solid-state switching circuit that delivers pulsed power at up to 12 kV and 100 A. This circuit, which is comprised of a series configuration of IGBT-based subcircuits, is suitable for driving the high-power vacuum-tube amplifiers that are typically used in RF accelerator systems. Each subcircuit can switch up to 3 kV, and the subcircuits can be stacked in series to extend the overall voltage capabilities of the switch. The circuit is designed to prevent overvoltaging any single transistor during switching transients or faults, regardless of the number of series subcircuits. Further, the circuit also includes the capability for rapid arc detection and suppression. Testing has shown effective switching at up to 100 A at 12 kV and for pulse repetition frequencies and durations in the range of 1-200 Hz and 10-50 µs, respectively. Additionally, the arc suppression circuitry has been shown to reliably limit arcs at 8-12 kV with a quench time of <1 µs and with a total energy of <0.2 J, minimizing the grid erosion in the vacuum-tube during an arc.
DOI •	reference for this paper ※ doi:10.18429/JACoW-NAPAC2022-MOPA61
About •	Received ※ 01 August 2022 — Revised ※ 09 August 2022 — Accepted ※ 20 August 2022 — Issue date ※ 10 September 2022
Cite •	reference for this paper using ※ BibTeX, ※ LaTeX, ※ Text/Word, ※ RIS, ※ EndNote (xml)

Paper

Title

Page

Modular Solid-State Switching and Arc Suppression for Vacuum Tube Bias Circuits

179

E.L. Atkinson, T.J. Houlahan, B.E. Jurczyk, R.A. Stubbers
Starfire Industries LLC, Champaign, USA

In this work, we present operational and performance data for a solid-state switching circuit that delivers pulsed power at up to 12 kV and 100 A. This circuit, which is comprised of a series configuration of IGBT-based subcircuits, is suitable for driving the high-power vacuum-tube amplifiers that are typically used in RF accelerator systems. Each subcircuit can switch up to 3 kV, and the subcircuits can be stacked in series to extend the overall voltage capabilities of the switch. The circuit is designed to prevent overvoltaging any single transistor during switching transients or faults, regardless of the number of series subcircuits. Further, the circuit also includes the capability for rapid arc detection and suppression. Testing has shown effective switching at up to 100 A at 12 kV and for pulse repetition frequencies and durations in the range of 1-200 Hz and 10-50 µs, respectively. Additionally, the arc suppression circuitry has been shown to reliably limit arcs at 8-12 kV with a quench time of <1 µs and with a total energy of <0.2 J, minimizing the grid erosion in the vacuum-tube during an arc.

DOI •

reference for this paper ※ doi:10.18429/JACoW-NAPAC2022-MOPA61

About •

Received ※ 01 August 2022 — Revised ※ 09 August 2022 — Accepted ※ 20 August 2022 — Issue date ※ 10 September 2022

Cite •

reference for this paper using ※ BibTeX, ※ LaTeX, ※ Text/Word, ※ RIS, ※ EndNote (xml)