RITS-3 self-break water switch studies

The radiographic integrated test stand (RITS-3) is a 4-MV, 160-kA, 70-ns inductive voltage adder accelerator at Sandia National Laboratories designed to develop critical understanding of flash radiographic drivers and x-ray sources. It utilizes three pulse forming lines (PFLs) to drive three inductive voltage adder cavities. Each PFL is switched by a fast-pulse-charged, self-breaking, annular water switch. Good synchronization and low loss in the switches is essential to efficient operation of the accelerator. Data from RITS-3 is analyzed with respect to jitter and losses, and compared to computer electric field codes for accuracy. In an attempt to achieve better synchronization, each of the three switch gap sizes was adjusted and electrode geometries were changed to improve performance.