Radiographic X-Ray Pulse Jitter

The Dual Beam Radiographic Facility consists of two identical radiographic sources. Major components of the machines are: Marx generator, water-filled pulse-forming line (PFL), water-filled coaxial transmission line, three-cell inductive voltage adder, and rod-pinch diode. The diode pulse has the following electrical specifications: 2.25-MV, 60-kA, 60-ns. Each source has the following x-ray parameters: 1-mm-diameter spot size, 4-rad at 1 m, 50-ns full width half max. The x-ray pulse is measured with PIN diode detectors. The sources were developed to produce high resolution images on single-shot, high-value experiments. For this application it is desirable to maintain a high level of reproducibility in source output. X-ray pulse jitter is a key metric for analysis of reproducibility. We will give measurements of x-ray jitter for each machine. It is expected that x-ray pulse jitter is predominantly due to PFL switch jitter, and therefore a correlation of the two will be discussed.