Rapid Capacitor Charger for 10 HZ Operation of a Low-Inductance Compact Marx Generator

We designed and build a rapid capacitor charger for 10 Hz, 500 J/shot operation of a low-inductance, compact Marx generator. The charger uses a hard-switched IGBT H-Bridge Inverter, which drives a 30 kHz, nano- crystalline step-up transformer. The transformer, in addition to the high-voltage rectifier and a trigger- transformer are contained in a section which is filled with transformer oil. The main circuit board also contains a solid-state Marx generator to trigger the main Marx generator. We also implemented a self-powered HV-feedback sensor to stop the charge process precisely at the target voltage. This new sensor greatly enhanced the rep-rated performance of the Marx by preventing pre-fires, since it enabled us to charge aggressively without overshooting the target voltage and have more time for spark-gap recovery.