A repetitive high voltage pulse generator based on a novel racetrack Blumlein type pulse forming line.

Abstract

High voltage pulse generators are widely applied in high power microwave, plasma generation, material processing, and scientific research. Pulse forming lines are widely applied in high voltage pulse generators due to their high energy density and great ability with square waveform modulation. To get a higher energy transfer efficiency and lower characteristic impedance, a novel racetrack Blumlein type pulse forming line (R-BPFL) that is formed by two inner cylinders, two middle cylinders, and one outer cylinder is proposed in this paper. Moreover, repetitive operation is significant for pulse generators. Therefore, this paper proposes a high repetitive primary energy storage system incorporating an energy recovery circuit precisely controlled by three thyristors. A parameter optimization methodology is developed through theoretical analysis to simultaneously satisfy both high-frequency operation requirements and maximum compactness. Finally, a repetitive high voltage pulse generator based on the designed R-BPFL and primary energy storage system is constructed and tested. The experimental results show that the generator designed in this paper had an output power of 10.5 GW on a 40 Ω load, a pulse width of about 115 ns, a repetition rate of 20 Hz, and supported 640 pulses in one run.