A high-power nanosecond pulse generator based on solid-state switches

A high-power nanosecond pulse generator based on a Lewis transformer and ultrafast IGBT-transistors is described. The generator ensures the formation of square pulses at a 50-Ω matched load with a repetition rate of up to 2 kHz. The pulse duration may be freely varied from 20 to 200 ns, and the pulse power may vary from 200 W to 2 MW.     

A high-performance source of high-power nanosecond ultrawideband radiation pulses

A source of high-power nanosecond ultrawideband electromagnetic pulses is described. The 3-ns-long bipolar voltage pulse with a 90-kV amplitude is applied to the input of four-element antenna array. The effective radiation potential values E _p R = 560 kV were obtained at a 100-Hz pulse repetition rate.     

A high-frequency semiconductor generator of high-voltage nanosecond pulses

A high-frequency generator of high-voltage nanosecond pulses based on an assembly of drift step-recovery diodes is described. A circuit that includes parallel transistor chains for the formation of forward and reverse currents of drift diodes is presented. The results of tests of this generator are presented. Voltage pulses with an amplitude of 2.5 kV, a duration of 2 ns, and a pulse repetition rate of 300 kHz were obtained across a 50-Ω load.     

A high-frequency semiconductor generator of high-voltage nanosecond pulses

A generator of high-voltage rectangular nanosecond pulses equipped with switches in the form of assemblies of deep-level dynistors connected in series is described. A control circuit for dynistors based on an assembly of inversely switched-off diodes connected in series is considered. The generator can operate at a frequency of 10 Hz and form (at a 20-pF load) rectangular voltage pulses with short (4 ns) leading and trailing edges and a short (25 ns) delay relative to an external control signal. The amplitude and duration of output pulses are controlled smoothly in the ranges 7–9 kV and 100–600 ns, respectively. The spread of moments of operation is within 0.5 ns.     

A thermoacoustic sensor for recording high-power nanosecond microwave pulses

The operating principle and design of an uncooled noise-immune high-power microwave pulse sensor is described. The sensor operation is based on the effect of acoustic signal generation when microwave pulses are absorbed in a layer structure, in which a thin metal nanometer-thick film is used as an absorber. The sensor is placed in a free space and intended to detect microwave pulses with ～10- to 100-ns durations in a 10- to 300-GHz frequency band with a pulse repetition rate of up to 5 kHz. For 10-ns-long pulses, the sensor sensitivity is 0.5 V/mJ.     

A generator of high-voltage nanosecond pulses with a subnanosecond rise time

A generator of high-voltage pulses of nanosecond duration with a subnanosecond rise time is described. The generator contains a nanosecond-pulse shaper based on an assembly of drift step-recovery diodes (DSRDs) connected in series and a sharpening switch based on an assembly of deep-level dynistors (DLDs) connected in series. The results of tests of this generator at a pulse repetition rate of 100 Hz are presented. Voltage pulses with an amplitude of 20 kV, a rise time of 0.3 ns, and a duration of 10 ns are formed across a load with a resistance of 50 Ω.     

A modular drift step-recovery diode generator for nanosecond pulse technologies

A generator of nanosecond pulses with an energy of ~50 mJ, which provides switching of voltage pulses with an amplitude of ~17 kV and a rise time of ~4 ns at a repetition frequency of 8 kHz to a 75-Ω resistive load, is described. The load is matched to the generator output cable. The generator is based on an opening switch in the form of a unit of drift step-recovery diodes (DSRDs). The conditions for the efficient operation of DSRDs are provided by six self-contained modules each of which contains an IGBT transistor and a step-up saturable-core transformer. The results of an experimental study of the generator are presented. They indicate a high efficiency of the developed modular circuit, which makes it possible to increase the switched energy virtually in proportion to the number of used modules, and the possibility of reducing the switching energy loss in the DSRD unit in proportion to the number of diode assemblies connected in parallel. It is shown that the generator can be used for producing ozone and high-purity silicon tetrafluoride and also in an apparatus for purifying air of organic pollutants.     

A coaxial broadband detector of high-power nanosecond microwave pulses on the hot-electron effect

The design and characteristics of a liquid-nitrogen-cooled hot-carrier detector of microwave pulses detecting electromagnetic radiation in the range 2–10 GHz with a resolution no worse than 1 ns are considered. The conversion coefficient of the voltage at the input cable into the output amplitude of a detected signal is 1.2 × 10⁻².     

A high-power semiconductor switch of high-voltage pulses with a rise time of nanosecond duration

The results of studies of new fast-acting semiconductor devices—deep-level dynistors intended for use in high-power devices of nano-and microsecond pulsed-power technology—are presented. The possibility of switching multikiloampere current pulses having a rise rate of 200 kA/μs with the use of a single device with a 12-mm-diameter structure is shown. A high-power switch based on an assembly of dynistors with an operating voltage of 12 kV connected in series is described. The switch is capable of switching current pulses with a 1200-A amplitude and a 4-ns rise time.     

A high-voltage nanosecond pulse generator based on a barrier discharge

One of the specific features of the barrier electric discharge is the short duration of microdischarge processes that last about tens of nanoseconds. A high-voltage nanosecond pulse generator based on a barrier electric discharge is presented. A voltage of tens of kilovolts is usually applied to electrodes of the discharge cell. The peak values of the current pulse may be very high (from a few amperes to several tens of amperes). The presented high-voltage nanosecond pulse generator, having a sufficiently simple design, ensures quite good pulse repetition stability, and, when necessary, allows one to easily tune characteristics of pulses and their repetition rates by changing the geometrical, electrical, and physical-chemical parameters of the setup.     

A high-power generator of nanosecond pulses with an amplitude of up to 500 kV and a repetition rate of up to 50 Hz

A pulsed-power high-voltage generator, which is combined with an electric-discharge chamber, is designed for selective disintegration of quartz raw minerals and other nonconductive natural and artificial materials. The main parameters of the generator are as follows: the voltage-pulse amplitude, up to 500 kV; the discharge-current amplitude, up to 30 kA; the duration of current pulses (the half-period an oscillatory discharge), 70–90 ns; and the pulse repetition rate, up to 50 Hz. The generator is characterized by a high efficiency, a long service life, the possibility of long continuous operation, and the fulfillment of the electromagnetic compatibility requirements. The experience of the operation of three constructed installations testifies to their high reliability: the number of accumulated pulses in a typical mode (450 kV, 20 Hz) exceeded 108 pulses without a repair or replacement of units.     

Heterodyne meter of spectral characteristics of high-power nanosecond X-band microwave pulses

The paper describes the design and results of the study of a heterodyne meter based on a broadband receiving module that allows one to record the spectrum and carrier frequency variation with time of X-band relativistic generators with a microwave power density of ≤30 kW/cm² and pulse duration of ≥5 ns in a 500-MHz frequency band and at a 25-dB signal-to-noise ratio.     

A high-power,high-frequency pulse generator based on a hollow-cathode discharge

A high-power high-frequency generator based on a hollow-cathode gas discharge is described. This simple device, equipped with a cold cathode, produces high-frequency pulses with up to 200-kW of power in a frequency band of 20–60 MHz. The duration of the high-frequency pulses varies from 0.5 to 1.5 s.Translated from Pribory i Tekhnika Eksperimenta, No. 1, 2005, pp. 86–89.Original Russian Text Copyright ¢ 2004 by Vyalykh, Dubinov, Lvov, Sadovoi, Selemir.     

A compact high-voltage nanosecond marx generator based on air-field dischargers

Results of the development and study of a 14-stage air high-voltage pulse generator with an output voltage of up to 250 kV, a current rise time of 10 ns, and blow capacitance of 400 pF are presented. The design and the schematic circuit diagram of the generator are described.     

Applications of comber-type coaxial lines with a built-in charging transformer for generating high-power nanosecond pulses

A high-power nanosecond pulse generator, based on a comber-type coaxial line section, which is charged by a high-voltage transformer built into this line, is described. Experimental data on its test results are given. It is stated that the considered approach can be used for decreasing the geometrical sizes of the generators. In the experiment, when 2-GW power pulses were generated, an extension of produced pulses by a factor of 1.8 was reached without substantial deterioration of the generated pulse shapes, as compared with a standard coaxial forming line of the same length.     

A high-current plasma generator based on a hollow cathode for high-power electric propulsions

A construction diagram and procedure for independent tests of the new hollow cathode, created at the Keldysh Research Center, being capable of ensuring an emission current of about 100 A, and meeting the main requirements, imposed on thermoemission cathodes of high-power ion thrusters, are considered. Results of the independent tests are given and dependences of the discharge voltage on the discharge current in a discharge-current range of 20–120 A are obtained. The temperatures of the cathode construction elements in stationary operation modes are measured.     

A compact nanosecond pulse generator

A compact high-current pulse generator with the amplitude of the load current up to 140 kA and rise time below 200 ns is designed. The basic element of the pulse generator design is the HCEIcap 100–0.2 capacitor switch assembly. The capacitance value of the capacitor switch assembly is 200 nF, the charging voltage is 100 kV, the energy storage is 1000 J, and the full inductance value is 20 nH. The sizes of the active part of the capacitor are 80-mm inner diameter ×160-mm outer diameter ×160 mm. A multigap spark-gap is used as a switch. The rise rate of the current through the load (X-pinch, 2 molybdenum wires with a 25-μm diameter) is 1.3 kA/ns, and the soft X-ray pulse duration is 2.0–3.5 ns.     

Low-pressure gas-discharge current interrupters in a generator of high-voltage nanosecond pulses with an inductive energy storage

Designs of grid units with slotted and multiple-aperture configurations of holes that allow an increase in the stability of the current-cutoff process and a reduction in the time to turn the device off in a high-voltage pulse generator with an inductive energy storage were created. Compared to a TGI2-500/20 thyratron, these designs made it possible to reduce the time instability of the instant of the current interruption by factors of 2 and 5 for switches with the multiple-aperture and slotted configurations of the grids, respectively. These constructions allowed the minimum time for disabling a device to be reduced by 25%.