Fast high voltage pulse generation using nonlinear capacitors

Many pulsed power applications require short high voltage pulses with high repetition rate. Conventional high-voltage discharge pulse-switches such as thyratrons, spark gap switches, vacuum tube switches have short lifetime, whereas the semiconductor switches have long lifetime and high reliability. The semiconductor switches, however, can not be directly applied to fast high voltage pulsed power generation due to their limited operating voltage ratings despite their relatively long switching times. Therefore they are used with a voltage amplification and a pulse compression stages. This paper describes two pulse generators using the semiconductor switches and nonlinear capacitors: one is based on an opening switch (IGBT) and an inductive energy storage. The other is a combination of a closing switch (RSD) and a capacitive energy storage.