A 10 GW pulsed power supply for HPM sources

This paper describes a compact power supply developed at Loughborough University for use with HPM sources, and which is based on an exploding wire array and a spiral-strip design of high-voltage transformer. With a 70 kJ/25 kV capacitor bank used as the energy source, explosion of the array generates 150 kV pulses in the primary winding of the transformer. The secondary winding output is then sharpened by means of a pressurized SF/sub 6/ spark gap, to produce, on a 20 /spl Omega/ high-power resistor, pulses approaching 500 kV with a peak power exceeding 10 GW and a rise time below 100 ns. In cooperation with the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI), final testing of the power supply was performed with the 20 /spl Omega/ resistor replaced by a reflex triode vircator. Measurements of the microwave emission using free-field sensors are presented for various electrode configurations. A brief comparison is made with the microwave emission from the same vircator powered by a Marx generator at FOI.