In 1998-9 I was working full time at Fermilab while finishing my undergrad
degree at the U of C. The research I did that year was mostly concerning
the development of a new type of modulator for an experiment. The
experiment is called the Electron Compressor, and is essentially electron
cooling and space charge cancellation with an electron current density
lens in the Tevatron accelerator at Fermilab. The current of an electron
beam had to be modulated with a wideband signal from 100kHz to 15MHz at
roughly 10kV.
Due to the geometry of the electron gun, the impedance of the modulation
electrode was so low, we needed about 20kW continuous power. This led to
a number of technical difficulties.
I designed a new system of
amplification using high power mosfets in class A topology, capable of
high voltage, high current, large bandwidth, and high efficiency. I
submitted the research to the Particle Accelerator Conference in 1999. My
poster was accepted, and I presented it that year in NY. Here is the
abstract from the paper, and a picture of the 4-mosfet driver board.
