Design and Construction of the 3.2 Mev Cathode Assembly for Darht II

Abstract

A 3.2 MeV injector has been designed and built for the Darht II Project at Los Alamos Lab. The installation of the complete injector system is nearing completion at this time. The requirements for the injector are to produce a 3.2 MeV, 2000 ampere electron pulse with a flattop width of at least 2-microseconds and emittance of less than 0.15 p cm-rad normalized. A 16.5 cm diameter hot emitter cathode is used. This paper will describe the design and fabrication of major Cathode Assembly components and test performance of subsystems to date. Mechanical and thermal issues will be emphasized. More detailed discussion of the active alignment system used to maintain the stringent cathode alignment requirement.