A durable gigawatt class solid state pulsed power system

A unique all solid-state pulsed power system has been tested at the Naval Research Laboratory that produced 200 kV, 4.5 kA, and 300 ns pulses, continuously for more than 11,500,000 shots into a resistive load at a repetition rate of 10 pps. The Marx has an efficiency of 80% based on calorimetric measurements. This pulser is used to evaluate components and advance solid state designs for a next generation solid-state pulsed power system to drive an electron beam pumped KrF laser system for inertial fusion energy. The solid state pulser, designed and constructed by PLEX LLC, consists of a 12 stage Marx, coupled with a 3rd harmonic stage to sharpen the Marx output waveforms, a main magnetic switch, a compact pulse forming line used as a transit time isolator, and a resistive load. Each Marx stage uses an APP Model S33A compact high voltage switch that consists of 12 series connected thyristors. A life test on individual thyristors showed operation of >; 300 M shots at 20 Hz without failure.