Medium Voltage Pulse Power Generator for Accurate Current Interruption

Abstract

High power one-shot pulse generators that respond quickly to a trigger are needed for industrial, scientific, and medical applications. A fast-response, flat-top current pulse can help dc circuit interrupters achieve zero current switching, which alleviates arcing, reduces semiconductor device stress, and improves circuit design. We overcome several challenges in designing high-voltage and high-current accurate pulse generators, including the following: first, parasitics from the necessary large physical format that degrade pulse quality and complicate design; second, modularity that is economical in using fewer lower voltage semiconductor switches; third, optimality in the tradeoff among response time, pulse flat-top duration, and component selection. We present a design method and hardware results for a modular 4.5 kV pulse generator that delivers a 100 A peak current pulse for an 800 ns flat-top duration and <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\pm 1$</tex-math></inline-formula> % accuracy, which can potentially scale to tens of kilovolts.