Transmission Line Code Modelling of the Pulsed Power Accelerator PIM, Including Suggestions to Improve the Output Voltage

PIM is a pulsed power accelerator based around the inductive voltage adder technique. Originally designed to drive high impedance (~100 Omega) electron beam diode loads at approximately 3MV it was found that the output voltage into a lower impedance (~40 Omega) load was closer to 1.5MV, the change in load impedance reflects changing requirements for PIM. Using a transmission line code to understand the power flow around the accelerator, the loss mechanisms have been explored and methods to reduce these suggested.