Study on a Marx generator with high‐voltage silicon‐stacks instead of isolating inductances

Abstract

Marx generator is a voltage boosting device for power pulse compression, in which its capacitors are charged in parallel and discharged in series. To get a higher voltage boost ratio, high-voltage silicon stacks have been applied to substitute the isolated inductances in this study. Experiments with two isolation modes in the Marx generator have been carried out. Experimental results reveal that the high-voltage silicon stacks with the parameters of 50 kV/1 kA used in the Marx generator can increase the voltage step-up ratio to 168.6:1, up from 141:1 and 162.9:1 when isolating inductances and silicon-stacks with parameters of 50 kV/3 kA are applied, respectively. Moreover, the silicon stack-isolating-type Marx generator can almost eliminate the pre-pulse existing on the load if the isolated inductances employed. Therefore, it is crucial to choose appropriate high-voltage silicon stacks as the isolating devices in the Marx generator designed in this study.