Pulse power system for extreme ultraviolet and x-ray sources

Abstract

The present invention provides a pulse power system for extreme ultraviolet and x-ray light sources. The pulse power system produces electrical pulses of at least 12 J at pulse repetition rates of at least 2000 Hz. The system is extremely reliable and has design lifetime substantially in excess of 10 billion pulses. The system includes a charging capacitor bank, a fast charger for charging the charging capacitor bank in time periods of less than 0.5 seconds. A voltage control circuit is provided for controlling the charging voltage capacitor to within less than 0.5 percent of desired values. The system includes a magnetic compression circuit for creating, compressing in duration and amplifying voltage pulses. A trigger circuit discharges the charging capacitor bank into the pulse compression circuit so as to produce EUV or x-ray light pulses with a timing accuracy of less than 10 ns. In a preferred embodiment a pulse transformer with at least two one-turn primary windings and a single one turn secondary winding is included in the pulse compression circuit and increases the pulse voltage by at least a factor of 3. The pulse power system described herein is useful for providing high energy electrical pulses at repetition rates in excess of 2000 Hz for several high temperature discharge EUV or x-ray light sources. These include dense plasma focus devices, Z pinch devices, hollow cathode Z-pinch devices and capillary discharge devices. Inclusion of the pulse transformer is recommended when the system is used for dense plasma focus, and the two types of Z-pinch devices.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.