Optically powered firing system for the Procyon high-explosive pulsed power system

Lawrence M. Earley; Jerome D. Paul; Lori E. Primas; Rodger C. Hall; James Goforth

doi:10.1117/12.230103

15 January 1996 Optically powered firing system for the Procyon high-explosive pulsed power system

Lawrence M. Earley, Jerome D. Paul, Lori E. Primas, Rodger C. Hall, James Goforth

Proceedings Volume 2611, Optical Network Engineering and Integrity; (1996) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.230103
Event: Photonics East '95, 1995, Philadelphia, PA, United States

Abstract

An optically powered fireset has been developed for the Procyon high explosive pulsed-power generator at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The fireset was located inside the generator where large magnetic fields are compressed to create amplified current pulses. No energy sources were allowed inside the experiment and no wire connections can penetrate through the wall of the experiment because of the high magnetic fields. The compression was achieved with high explosives in the experiment. The fireset was used to remotely charge a 1.2 (mu) F capacitor to 6500 V. The capacitor was charged by using two 7 W fiber coupled GaAlAs laser diodes to illuminate two fiber coupled 12 V solar cells. The solar cell outputs were connected in parallel to the input of a dc-dc converter. The voltmeter, powered by illuminating a third 12 V solar cell with 1 W laser diode, was used to monitor the charge on the capacitor. The voltage was measured with a divider circuit, then converted to frequency in a V-F converter and transmitted to the control room over a fiber optic link. A fiducial circuit measured the capacitor firing current and provided an optical output timing pulse.

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Lawrence M. Earley, Jerome D. Paul, Lori E. Primas, Rodger C. Hall, and James Goforth "Optically powered firing system for the Procyon high-explosive pulsed power system", Proc. SPIE 2611, Optical Network Engineering and Integrity, (15 January 1996); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.230103

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KEYWORDS

Solar cells

Capacitors

Semiconductor lasers

Fiber lasers

Fiber optics

Explosives

Light emitting diodes

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