Impulse electromagnetic interference generator

Electromagnetic interference (EMI) related malfunctioning of equipment containing electronic control devices has become a serious problem these days, as it couples to wires and PCB´s in the equipment, reflecting and resonating and then being amplified by an IC finally resulting in malfunction. In order to test and simulate the immunity of electronic circuits to an EMI environment, an electrical fast transient/burst generator has been developed which generates broadband interference spectrum in the range of 20 MHz to 600 MHz. The burst generator is mainly comprised of coaxial cables, pressurized spark gaps, a HV Power Supply, a terminating resistor and a TEM horn which acts as load. For pulse sharpening, switching has been done at two stages. Depending upon the delay time of coaxial line, the width of the square wave pulse has been kept at 50 ns. The total energy of the portable system is 34 Joules, and it weighs less than 50 kg. In the presented paper we describe the system design, results of measurements and areas of further improvements in energy transfer efficiency.