New SiC Kicker Power Supply for J-PARC

A new kicker power supply using silicon carbide metal–oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (SiC-MOSFETs) is under development at the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC). SiC-MOSFETs fabricate compact high-speed pulse power supplies to replace the thyratron switch power supply. The base circuit of the new power supply uses the linear transformer driver (LTD) system, and the semi-conductor module circuit comprises a radial symmetry type that achieves low noise. The three main components of the current kicker power supply, i.e., the thyratron, pulse-forming network (PFN) circuit, and end clipper, can be assembled on a single board as the new module circuit board. The new power supply contains a 1.25 kV/2 kA main board that forms a trapezoidal pulse and a 0.1 kV/2 kA correction board, compensating for the flat section droop. The 32 main boards and 20 correction boards are hierarchically connected in series to achieve the waveform specifications required for the J-PARC rapid cycling synchrotron (RCS) kicker power supply: output voltage of 40 kV, output current of 2 kA, and pulse width of 1.2 μs. Furthermore, a 25 % power saving has been confirmed and an insulating cylinder for the conductor has been developed to suppress corona discharge and withstand continuous operation for a long time.