The results of the development and experience of operation of a modernized charging system of the capacitor bank of the Iskra-5 laser facility are presented. The main performance characteristics of the devices that are included in the charging system are presented. A method for creating the hardware and software for the remote control and monitoring of the parameters of charging devices is described. The serviceability of the charging system during the operation of the facility is evaluated.

Summary form only given. The high-power UV radiation in spectral range of 200-300 nm is required for a set of applications such as decontamination of water, food etc. As known the tube xenon flash lamp is the simple and efficient source of UV radiation. In this report the results of experimental investigation of high-power tube xenon flash lamps at microsecond duration of discharge are presented. We tested flash lamps with inner diameter from 10 to 20 mm and distance between lamp electrodes from 180 to 930 mm at discharge duration less than 5 mus. It has been obtained that integrated mode of pulse preionization greatly increase the energy and efficiency of lamp radiation in the spectral range of 200 - 300 nm, and increase the lamp lifetime too. We also observed that for external surface of lamp bulb the density of radiation power in the spectral range of 200 - 300 nm was more than 100 kW/cm 2 , and efficiency was not less than 10%.

Summary form only given. Since 2000 year LUCH laser facility has been worked at RFNC-VNIIEF. This facility was designed as prototype of ISKRA-6 128-beams facility that is developing now. Basis of LUCH facility is 4-beams Nd-glass laser with operating aperture 20times20 cm. This laser is included two four-path amplifiers that are pumped by 432 xenon flashlamps. The capacitor bank with near 5MJ stored energy at operating voltage of 24 kV has been constructed to drive amplifiers flashlamps. 18 unified modules are included in the bank. Each single module is discharged to lamp load by semiconductor closing switch based on reverse switched dynistors. Description of module components and bank subsystems such as charging, triggering, control and diagnostic is presented in this report. Also the bank performance during the exploitation is discussed.

Summary form only given. The ISKRA-6 laser is a 128-beam, flashlamp-driven neodymium-glass laser that will produce near 0.6 MJ of light on target. Each of the 128 beams of the ISKRA-6 laser is amplified in two four-pass laser amplifiers. Pumping system of these amplifiers is consisted the 5120 xenon flash lamps that are drove by a power conditioning system. ISKRA-6 power conditioning system (PCS) is based on the capacitor storage bank to deliver approximately 35 k.F to each of 5120 flashlamps. So, PCS will be capable of storing nearly 215 MJ of electrical energy at 24 kV The capacitor bank will include the 256 unified modules. This paper describes the design of module and results of testing of module prototype. It also discusses the components of module including self-healing capacitors, main semiconductor closing switches based on reverse switched dynistors, and other components.

Summary form only given. A new generation of semiconductor closing switches based on reverse switched dynistors (RSD) has been developed to switch high-power current pulses with microsecond duration. In this report the results of theoretical and experimental investigations of RSD at peak current more than 500 kA and pulse duration up to 500 mus (at 0.1 Imax) are observed. The criteria of extreme peak current for switch taking into consideration the longtime performance under pulse-periodical mode are gave. The design and test results for switch under single pulse mode at operating voltage up to 25 kV and peak current up to 300 kA are described. The possibility of using such a switch in the ISKRA-6 capacitor bank is estimated.

The twelve-channel 'Iskra-5' iodine laser facility was updated to enable investigations in the regime of high-power two-pulse target irradiation, when the second pulse is delayed by a time of up to 10 μs relative to the first one and possesses an energy equal to or comparable with the energy of the first pulse.

The conversion of the 'Iskra-5' iodine laser to the regime of fusion target irradiation by second harmonic radiation at 657.5 nm is reported. The laser upgrading enabled obtaining from 12 channels a total second-harmonic energy yield of 2.5 kJ, which corresponds to an output power of 5 TW. The conversion efficiency was equal to ∼50% in experiments with DKDP crystals with an aperture of 35 cm. A series of 12-channel experiments was conducted involving second-harmonic irradiation of microtargets.

We describe the operating principle, design and test results for the high-power semiconductor switch which based on the assembly of reverse switched dinistors. This switch has the following operating parameters: (i) operating voltage -25kV, (ii) peak operating current - up to 200kA, (iii) maximum transferred charge - up to 70C. The switch is intended for use by pulse power systems of Nd:glass lasers. The features of switch modes at such banks are discussed.

Performance test results on semiconductor RSD-based switch are presented, which have been obtained at 2MJ test facility in Limeil-Valenton (France). This switch was integrated into a flashlamps drive circuit that corresponded to the power conditioning of main amplifiers for high-power Nd-glass laser of LMJ facility. The switch was loaded by 5 parallel lamp circuits to provide the following operational parameters: 25 kV, 120 kA, 40 Coulombs. It has been shown that this kind of switch may be compatible with preionization pulse mode.

The LLNL project of the pulsed power system for the National Ignition Facility requires a switch with the following operational parameters: peak current of 400 kA, the transferred charge of 150 C, operating voltage of 25 kV, and reliable operating life of 10,000 shots. A review of high-power switches is given with detailed studies on vacuum switches and semiconductor switches.

The complex is designed to supply the pump system of the high-power iodine laser of the Iskra-5 physics apparatus. The total energy capacity of the capacitors of the complex is 67.3 MJ for a working potential of 50 kV; the total discharge current is almost-equal-to 150 MA. The complex has a modular construction and contains 665 cells. Each cell is discharged to its own load - a pulsed light source - through its own controlled spark discharger. Unified cells make up 94% of the complex (624 cells) and have the following principal parameters: an energy capacity of 105 kJ, a working potential of 50 kV, a discharge current of 0.3 MA, and a discharge period of 70-mu-sec. The main elements of the storage devices include MK50-3 capacitors (18,000 each), controlled pressurized spark dischargers under (665 each), and sections of KVIM cable with lengths of 3 m (18,300 each) and 30 m (12,480 each). The storage devices are linked to a computer system that monitors their state in both the charge and discharge stages.