A Compact, 10-kV, 2-ns Risetime Pulsed-Power Circuit Based on Off-the-Shelf Components

Abstract

The use of drift-step-recovery diodes (DSRDs) for producing high-voltage pulses in the nanosecond range requires a prime switch. The prime switch pumps the DSRD with carriers in the forward direction and then pulses the DSRD quickly in the reverse direction. Fast pulsing is necessary in order to achieve a high-compression ratio between the load peak voltage and the supply voltage. Thus, typically, either a fast (a few nanoseconds) metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor, or the combination of a slow (tens of nanoseconds) insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) with a magnetic switch, is used for this purpose. The circuit presented here features four compression stages. The first stage consists of a precharged capacitor and an inductor in series, where an IGBT is used for the DSRD pumping. The second stage is similar to the first one, with the exception of its capacitor being precharged in the negative direction. This provides enhanced performance for the DSRD pulsing, alleviating the need for a magnetic switch. The third and fourth stages consist of DSRDs, where a small voltage bias allows balancing of their pumping charges. A compact, $100\times 50\times 30$ mm, circuit with an output of 10.3-kV, 1.85-ns risetime using commercially available off-the-shelf components is presented.