Design and characterization of a marx generator for low impedance HPM and radiographic loads

Abstract

The Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of New Mexico is conducting basic physics research on charged particle beam driven High Power Microwave (HPM) sources, high brightness Bremsstrahlung sources and pulsed power drivers. As part of these efforts we have developed a high energy modular Marx generator designed to drive low impedance loads. The Marx generator was designed to provide a fast rise time, a long pulse width, in excess of 300 ns, efficiency greater than 60%. And deliver in excess of 40 kA at 500 kV. This presentation details the electrical and mechanical design decisions made as well as numerical SPICE and electrostatic models validating these decisions. This paper also presents initial characterization of the output at various voltages and various loads of different impedances as well as short test results verifying the inductance and capacitance of the erected Marx.