Development and applications of pulsed-power system at NCKU

Po-Yu Chang^1*, Pulsed-Plasma Laboratory¹

¹Institute of Space and Plasma Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan city, Taiwan

* Presenter:Po-Yu Chang, email:pchang@mail.ncku.edu.tw

A pulsed-power system stores the energy first and releases the energy in a short period of time so that a high-power output is provided. Materials in extreme conditions can be studied using a pulsed-power system, e.g., in the high-energy-density-plasma (HEDP) regime where the pressure is larger than 1 Mbar. At National Cheng Kung University, we built a 1-kJ pulsed-power system, which provides a pulsed current up to ~100 kA with a rise time of ~1.6 us. Optical diagnostics, including time-integrated imaging and temporal-resolved shadowgraph imaging, schlieren imaging, and interferometer, were integrated with the system with a timing jitter of ~100 ns. Varies topics are being studied, such as supersonic plasma jets generated by using conical-wire arrays, stagnated plasma plumes from head-on collisions of two counter-propagating plasma jets, high-pressure generation using flyer plates, EUV/soft x-ray generation using theta pinches, etc. In addition, a pulsed-power system can drive coils and thus generate the required magnetic fields in a Tokamak, a scheme of achieving nuclear fusion using magnetic-confinement fusion (MCF). The pulsed-power system with synchronized diagnostics and experimental results of different topics, and the pulsed-power system for the Tokamak we are building will be presented. This work was supported by the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC, former Ministry of Science and Technology, MOST), Taiwan, under Award Number 105-2112-M-006-014-MY3, 109-2112-M-006-011, 110-NU-E-006-001-NU, 111-2112-M-006-013, 112-2112-M-006-027, and 112-2119-M-042A-001.

Keywords: Pulsed-power system, High energy density plasma, Magnetic confinement fusion, Tokamak