Over the Summer Paul worked with Dr. Sander Lavine and Professor Bruce Kusse to design a capacitor bank. The capacitor bank will deliver strong axial magnetic fields via a Helmholtz coil during the plasma Z pinch. This effect can be used in multifarious experiments to explore different properties of plasma.
Paul used SOLIDWORKS to finish modeling the capacitor layout, current path, bank housing, and physical framing of the capacitor bank. Then explored circuit simulators which helped estimate the circuit’s transient response, aiding the diode selection process. The diode stack is necessary in order to stultify voltage reversal on the capacitors; any significant voltage reversal could damage or even destroy them. He then advised a main cable for the capacitor bank to conduct the pulse, and confirmed it could handle the high current and voltage at the given frequency of the circuit.
Currently, Paul is investigating the proposed snubber circuit and what components would be sufficient for its proper functioning.