Breakdown Performance Statistics of a Nanoparticle Composite System

The Dielectric Wall Accelerator (DWA) is an approach for manufacturing particle accelerators that can be an order of magnitude more compact than conventional accelerators. To realize the associated high level of electric field gradient it is necessary to develop and characterize materials that can maintain electric fields in excess of 100 MV/m (=1MV/cm). This high value for the breakdown strength must be maintained for many thousands of pulses under conditions of voltage reversal. The present work reports the performance of a candidate composite material composed of high dielectric constant nanoparticles dispersed in an epoxy matrix loaded to achieve a dielectric constant = 10. The effect of peak voltage on number of pulses that can be sustained is given. In addition the effects of electrode gap spacing and charging rate are explored.