A Laser Trigger System for ZR

Abstract

Summary form only given. The Z pulsed power driver at Sandia National Laboratories is in the process of being refurbished as part of the ZR project to improve reliability and increase the energy delivered to the load. The new ZR gas switches currently close at a peak voltage of 6.2 MV to generate a projected 26 MA load current as compared to 4.6 MV and ~20 MA for the old switches on Z. The Laser Trigger System (LTS) has been redesigned to meet requirements that it trigger this higher voltage switch with comparable optic lifetime (>100 shots) and jitter (1sigma < 5ns) to the old Z switches. We will discuss critical design features of the LTS and show performance results from the Z20 test bed which was used to study the operation of a single ZR module.