Method for improved voltage determination for pulsed power systems utilizing a magnetically insulated transmission line

摘要

Because the voltage is difficult to measure in a magnetically insulated transmission line (MITL), the measurement of the currents flowing in the cathode and anode is often used with MITL theory to estimate the voltage in a given experiment. However, this estimate contains a space charge correction term whose magnitude depends on what is referred to as the g factor that describes the distribution of charge and current in the electron flow layer in the MITL. Typically, g is on the order of unity, but the accuracy of the voltage estimate depends on its actual value. While the space charge correction term is small when the MITL flow is strongly insulated, it is particularly important near self-limited MITL flow. System parameters that affect the distribution of electron flow are studied here at self-limited flow in order to illustrate this matter and develop a methodology to improve the voltage determination. Published under license by AIP Publishing.