Design and Development of Compact Variable Pulse Width Marx Generator For High Power Microwave Applications

Abstract

High voltage generators in the order of few kV to MV are used for wide range of applications newlineFor example, evaluation of voltage withstand capability of electric power system components newlinesuch as insulators, research in nuclear fusion, inertial confinement, automobile ignition, newlinedirected energy weapons, medical and food processing industries, electrostatic precipitators newlineand defiance equipment need these generators. High voltage generators with pulse duration in newlinethe order of pico second to millisecond are called as high voltage pulsed power newlinesources/generators. Pulse duration and peak voltage is decided by the load requirements. These newlinehigh voltage pulsed power sources (PPS) are used in various applications to generate intense newlineplasma, particle accelerators, ion beams, electron beam generation etc. Based on the literature newlinestudies, it is observed that the pulse width is a fixed value, and it cannot be varied without newlineutilizing some active circuit or modifying the circuit parameters. However, certain real time newlineapplications such as studying the nanosecond breakdown phenomena of dielectrics and newlinemicrowave vulnerability on electronics components/subsystems need high voltage variable newlinepulse width repetitive PPS. Different high voltage pulse generators with pulse width variation newlinehave been developed for various applications and these generators produce variable pulse width newlineusing solid state devices but the generated output voltage and current by these generators are newlinenot sufficient to drive HPM sources. In general, the pulse width is decided by the circuit newlineparameters and variable pulse width cannot be achieved by a single PPS. Hence, a number of newlinehigh voltage generators, each one designed for the required pulse width are needed. Developing newlinea number of PPS for different loads, results in loss of time, high cost, other logistics issues and newlinecomplexity. If the variable pulse width is obtained from a single PPS, it can be easily used for newlinedriving various loads. newlineDifferent research groups in pulsed power sources (PPS) are exploring