Abstract: A pulsed-power driver with modular construction is presented. The pulsed-power driver includes a voltage adder assembly and a transmission line that extend along a driver axis from an upstream end to a downstream end. The voltage adder assembly has a modular construction and is disposed around the transmission line. The voltage adder assembly includes a number of stages axially distributed along the driver axis. The transmission line includes an inner conductor and an outer conductor. The outer conductor includes a modular segmented construction along the driver axis that includes a number of outer conductor segments corresponding to the number of stages. The pulsed-power driver further includes a plurality of stage insulators longitudinally interleaved between each pair of adjacent outer conductor segments, and the outer conductor segments of each pair are electrically connected to each other in series via a corresponding stage of the voltage adder assembly.

Abstract: Plasma processing systems and methods for fusion power applications are disclosed. The system can include a plasma confinement device including a reaction chamber; a plasma formation and injection device configured to form a source plasma outside the reaction chamber and inject the source plasma inside the reaction chamber; and a power supply configured to supply power to the plasma confinement device to apply a voltage across the reaction chamber to compress the source plasma into a Z-pinch plasma capable of sustaining fusion reactions. The plasma confinement device can include an inner electrode surrounded by an outer electrode to define therebetween an acceleration region of the reaction chamber. The outer electrode can extend beyond the inner electrode to define an assembly region of the reaction chamber. The source plasma can be injected in the acceleration region and flowed into the assembly region to be compressed into the Z-pinch plasma.