High repetition-rate, low jitter pulsed power generator for excimer laser applications

Abstract

A high repetition-rate pulsed power generator, which uses IGBT as the main switch, has been developed. It generates high-voltage output of 28 kV that can charge a capacitive load of 12 nF in 100 ns. It can be operated at the repetition rate of 6 kHz. A special technique has been applied to the control circuit so that the main storage capacitor is always charged at a constant voltage, even when the output voltage of the charging unit varies for 20%. As a result the timing of the output voltage pulse is stabilized within a range of several nanoseconds. This level of low jitter is considered to be required by the pulsed power supplies for the short-wavelength excimer lasers.