Recent upgrade of the klystron modulator at SLAC

Abstract

The SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory employs 244 klystron modulators on its two-mile-long linear accelerator that has been operational since the early days of the SLAC establishment in the sixties [1]. Each of these original modulators was designed to provide 250 kV, 262 A and 3.5 µS at up to 360 pps using an inductance-capacitance resonant charging system, a modified type-E pulse-forming network (PFN), and a pulse transformer. The modulator internal control comprised of large step-start resistor-contactors, vacuum-tube amplifiers, and 120 Vac relays for logical signals. A major, power-component-only upgrade, which began in 1983 to accommodate the required beam energy of the SLAC Linear Collider (SLC) project, raised the modulator peak output capacity to 360 kV, 420 A and 5.0 µS at a reduced pulse repetition rate of 120 pps [2]. In an effort to improve safety, performance, reliability and maintainability of the modulator, this recent upgrade focuses on the remaining three-phase AC power input and modulator controls. The upgrade includes the utilization of primary SCR phase control rectifiers, integrated fault protection and voltage regulation circuitries, and programmable logic controllers (PLC) - with an emphasis on component physical layouts for safety and maintainability concerns. In this paper, we will describe the design and implementation of each upgraded component in the modulator control system. We will also report the testing and present status of the modified modulators.