High-power, repetitive-stacked Blumlein pulsers commutated by asingle switching element

The stacked Blumlein pulse generators developed at the University of Texas at Dallas consist of several triaxial Blumleins stacked in series at one end. The lines are charged in parallel and synchronously commutated with a single switching element at the other end, In this may, relatively low charging voltages are multiplied to give a higher desired voltage across an arbitrary load. Extensive characterization of the stacked Blumlein pulsers indicates that these devices are capable of producing high-power pulses with rise times and repetition rates in the range of 0.3-50 ns and 1-300 Hz, respectively, using a conventional thyratron, spark gap, or photoconductive switch. This paper presents the progress in the development and use of these novel pulsers. Recent adaptation of the design has enabled the stacked Blumlein to produce 50-70 MW nanosecond pulses with risetimes on the order of 200-300 ps into nominally matched loads. The device has a compact line geometry and is commutated by a single photoconductive switch triggered by a low power laser diode     

Gamma-Ray Transitions Induced in Nuclear Spin Isomers by X-Rays

Because of the high density of energy storage and the large cross section for its release, nuclear spin isomers have attracted considerable recent interest. The triggering of induced gamma emission from them has encouraged efforts to develop intense sources of short-wavelength radiation. One of the more interesting examples is the 16⁺ 4-qp isomer of ¹⁷⁸Hf which stores 2.445 MeV for a half-life of 31 years meaning that as a material, such isomeric ¹⁷⁸Hf would store 1.3 GJ/g. Recently, a sample containing 6.3×10¹⁴ nuclei of the isomer of ¹⁷⁸Hf was irradiated with X-ray pulses derived from a device operated at 15 mA to produce bremsstrahlung radiation with end point energies set to values between 60 and 90 keV. Emission of gamma radiation from the sample was increased by 1–2% above the quiescent value of spontaneous emission. Such an accelerated decay of the ¹⁷⁸Hf isomer is consistent with an integrated cross section of 2.2×10⁻²² cm² keV if the resonant absorption of the X-rays takes place below 20 keV as indicated by the use of selective absorbing filters in the irradiating beam. The work reported here describes the current experimental focus and results recently obtained with the use of coincident detection of emitted gamma photons by several detectors. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Mass flow in laser-plasma deposition of carbon under oblique angles of incidence

The angular distribution of the mass flow in carbon laser plasmas, generated from graphite targets at laser power densities around 10¹¹ W/cm² and 1064 nm, was studied. Under oblique angles of incidence the mass flow is not perpendicular to the target surface but rather symmetrical around the bisecting angle between the laser beam and the surface normal. For all angles, however, a cos⁴-pattern is observed. Compared to normal incidence the mass flow is weaker by about a factor of 2 to 3 for 30° and 50° angle of incidence. The dependence of film quality on deposition angle with regard to the symmetry axis of the plume is demonstrated.Presented at LASERION '91, June 12–14, 1991, München (Germany)     

Study of the gamma emission from the 31-yr isomer of 178Hf induced by x-ray irradiation

A sample containing 6.3×10¹⁴ nuclei of the 16⁺ isomer of ¹⁷⁸Hf having a half-life of 31 yr and an excitation energy of 2.446 MeV was irradiated with x-ray pulses from a device operated at 15 mA to produce bremsstrahlung with an endpoint energy of 90 keV. The gamma spectra of the isomeric target were taken with a Ge detector. The intensity of the 325.5-keV (6⁺ → 4⁺) transition in the ground-state band of ¹⁷⁸Hf was found to increase by about 2%. Such an enhanced decay of the ¹⁷⁸Hf isomer is consistent with an integrated cross section value of 3×10^?23 cm² keV if resonance absorption occurs within energy ranges corresponding to the maxima of the x-ray flux, either near 20 keV or at the energies of the characteristic emission lines of W.