A DSRD-Based Trigger Circuit for RBDT

Abstract

AbstractIn the pulse power circuit based on RBDT (reverse blocking diode thyristor), a trigger circuit capable of generating pulses with a high voltage rise rate is required to trigger the RBDT. In this paper, the DSRD (drift step recovery diode)-based pulse power circuit is used as the trigger circuit of RBDT, and an experimental circuit is built to test three types of RBDTs with different blocking voltages. The DSRD as the semiconductor switch in the trigger circuit can be easily connected in series without complicated control methods, which can improve the reliability of the trigger circuit. Under different circuit conditions, the characteristics of the three types of RBDTs, including the peak value of the pulse current and the rise rate of the pulse current, are studied. In the experiment, the maximum current rise rate of 6.1 kA/μs is acquired, which is the highest value for RBDT until now, with the peak current of 1.25 kA. The voltage rise rate of the trigger pulse is 58 kV/μs, provided by DSRD. Experiments show that the RBDT can be switched on with the trigger switch DSRD.KeywordsRBDT (reverse blocking diode thyristor)DSRD (drift step recovery diode)Pulse power circuitDevice characterization