Conference Schedule

The conference schedule has been finalized, please click here to download.

Technical Program

To submit your abstract, please use this ConfTool link. Authors will be notified by March 15, 2024, if their abstract has been accepted into the technical program. Please see the “Call for Papers” page for important dates. If you do not already have a profile. you will be prompted to make one.

Dielectrics, Electromagnetic Phenomena, and Emitters

Dielectrics, Insulation, and Breakdown
Plasmas, Discharges, and Electromagnetic Phenomena
Lasers, X-Rays, EUV, Partial Discharge Testing, and Other Emitters

High Voltage and Power Modulator Components

Power Electronics, Power Supplies, Prime Power, Rotating Machines, and Energy Converters
Solid State Power Modulators, Components, and Systems
Power Electronics and High Voltage
High Voltage Design, Devices, Testing, and Diagnostics
Opening, Closing, and Solid-State Switches

Power Modulator Systems and Applications

Repetitive Pulsed Power Systems, Repetitive Pulsed Magnetics, Accelerators, Beams, High Power Microwaves, and High Power Pulsed Antennas
Electromagnetic Launchers, High Current Systems, High Rep-Rate Systems, Thermal Management, and Applications
Power Modulator Configurations, Systems, Diagnostics, and Applications in Vacuum and Low Pressure
New and Novel Applications of Power Modulators
Analytical Methods, Modeling, and Simulation
Biological, Medical, and Environmental Applications of Power Modulators

Short Course 1: Circuit and Field Simulations in High Voltage Power Supply Practice

Abstract

The course is intended for engineers and researchers in the field of high voltage electronics who want to use circuit and field simulations in everyday practice of designing HV power supplies. Influenced heavily by the instructor experience, the lecture focuses on the power circuitry of high-performance switchmode power supplies ranging from units to hundreds of kV and up to hundreds of kW. The target of circuit simulations made on a PSpice platform are dc-to-dc converters as the most challenging blocks of HVPS. The emphasis is on defining the parasitics from field simulations, ultimately, to the level of performing coupled analyses. Field simulations (FEA on COMSOL platform) encompass electrostatics (for insulation design), electromagnetics (design of transformers, chokes, etc., with account for eddy currents), heat transfer and multiphysics. Most of the FEA topics are illustrated by live simulations of real-life systems.

Additional information regarding this course can be found here.

Dr. Alex Pokryvailo

Alex Pokryvailo (M’05–SM’07) was born in Vyborg, Russia. He received the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute in 1975 and 1987, respectively. Formerly with Soreq NRC, Yavne, Israel, now he is with Spellman High Voltage Electronics Corp., where he has been serving as Director of Research for 16 years transitioning lately to the role of Engineering Fellow. His current and recent experience relates to research and design of HV high-power switchmode power supplies, insulation testing, multiphysics simulations, Pulsed Power, fast diagnostics, and corona discharges. Previously, he studied switching arcs, designed SF6-insulated switchgear, researched interaction of flames with electromagnetic fields, etc. He has published 150 papers, two textbooks (in Hebrew), and more than 20 patents pertaining to HV technology. He has also taught undergradute and graduate courses on HV techniques in Israel and USA.

Short Course 2: Pulsed Power Accelerators and Their Architectures

Abstract

This short course outlines the fundamental concepts of pulsed power systems and emphases how these fundamentals have influenced the architectures of various pulsed power drivers and accelerators throughout the world. For instance, in the early 1960s, Charlie Martin’s Pulsed Power Group at AWE developed technology and understanding of short pulsed electrical systems used in flash radiography and other high power applications. These developments drove further work in the UK and USA that has led to the breadth of Pulsed Power systems we see operating today. This course explores that legacy of Pulsed Power development by first looking in some detail at the machines that have been used at AWE over the years, with focus on the Blumlein-based Single Pulse Forming line machines, which have been the workhorses at AWE, and then onto newer technologies being brought into service now to upgrade capabilities. For Sandia’s contribution, we describe the IVA architecture and provide several examples such as RITS, HERMES, Cygnus, and the Scorpius injector. In addition, we will touch on LTD technologies such as Ursa Minor and Mykonos, and finish by discussing high current drivers such as Saturn, the Z
Machine, and Next Generation Pulsed Power (NGPP). Future capabilities such as fast Marxs and solid state pulsed power will also be mentioned. The focus of this short course is pulsed-power architectures, including their components and descriptions of how they work, with additional information provided on applications, design challenges, limitations, and future capabilities, plus a review of accelerator diagnostics and basic grounding and shielding principles. This course is intended for students, scientists, and engineers who have an interest in pulsed-power and may find themselves working with such systems now or in the future.

Additional information regarding this course can be found here.

Dr. Mark Johnston

Mark Johnston is a Principal Member of Technical Staff at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM. He received his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, summa cum laude, from Oakland University (1998) following six years in the US Navy as a nuclear power plant operator (1990-1996). He attended the University of Michigan, where he obtained his Master’s (2001) and PhD degrees (2004) in Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences under the supervision of Dr. Ronald Gilgenbach. His research at Sandia involves plasma diagnostics and spectroscopy of low temperature plasmas in high energy density, pulsed-power environments. He was a principal investigator on the RITS-6 IVA accelerator, where he conducted research on electron beam diodes used as x-ray radiographic sources. He was a principal investigator on the Z Machine, exploring plasma generation in the MITL power flow regions in support of the Next Generation Pulsed Power Facility (NGPPF), and now leads the design effort for the new Bremsstrahlung x-ray diode for the Combined Radiation Environments for Survivability Testing (CREST) project. He is a Research Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of New Mexico, where he teaches courses in low temperature plasmas, plasma diagnostics, and spectroscopy. He has authored or coauthored numerous papers and reports ranging from z-pinch wire physics to particle beam diodes to MITL plasma phenomena. He is a member of IEEE, NPSS, APS, ACS, and SPIE.

Dr. Chris Grabowski

Chris Grabowski has a B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA.

In 1991, before beginning his Ph.D. studies, he worked as a Research Student with the Pulsed Power Laboratory at Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan, studying inductive energy storage pulsed power generators. After completing his Ph.D., he worked as a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel, studying plasma spectroscopy, and then at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA, studying the design of high-power traveling wave tube amplifiers.

In 2000, he began his professional career working for Maxwell Technologies in Albuquerque, which later became S.A.I.C, as a Senior Staff Engineer supporting research in directed energy at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Kirtland AFB, Albuquerque. He joined AFRL’s Directed Energy Directorate as a Senior Research Physicist in 2010, focusing on AFRL’s magneto-inertial fusion and high energy particle beam research efforts while supporting other radiation and microwave source development projects. Later in 2016, he transitioned to Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, as a Principal Member of the Technical Staff, initially supporting the operations of the HERMES III and Saturn accelerators while also serving as a PI for a research project investigating particle beam effects on
electronics. Subsequently, he joined the engineering team supporting the Annular Core Research Reactor (ACRR) and the other nuclear facilities at Sandia’s Tech Area V.

In his most recent role, Chris is serving as the manager of a department responsible for the design development and associated systems engineering for a new and modern facility to house Sandia’s ACRR which is anticipated in the coming years.

Mark Sinclair

Mark Sinclair is a Principal Pulsed Power Scientist at AWE and a long-time member of the Pulsed Power Group. He began his career in 1992 on the E Minor and Mogul E machines, and has contributed in one way or another to the majority of AWE’s Pulsed Power machines. He is currently the lead scientist for the MERLIN IVA machine, which will be coming operational this year, and has worked on all of AWE’s flash x-ray systems. He leads the Pulsed Power capability research for Hydrodynamics and is the UK Technical Lead for Pulsed Power at Epure.