LASSIE: A Low Amperage System for Small Implosion Experiments

High-quality x-ray sources have been used to measure the properties of warm dense matter generated by isochoric heating using high-power lasers with relatively high accuracy. However, as the heating process is primarily isentropic, the characteristics of warm dense matter produced by pulsed power drivers may differ. Yet, there is no definite answer since pulsed-power drivers are usually not coupled to x-ray light sources. The size, repetition rate, and electrical noise of these drivers are incompatible with linac or synchrotron facilities. However, linear transformer drivers (LTD) should be more compatible with x-ray source facility requirements since they are more compact and have higher repetition rates. As a first step, we developed a small, pulsed power driver that was designed to produce 250 kA of current with a rise time of 200 ns for loads with an inductance of 5 nH, with a footprint of 70\times 70\times70 cm and a mass of 565 kg. We report here on the mechanical and electrical design of the machine, as well as its components and how it performed with three sets of load hardware.