Investigation on a High Power, Low Impedance, and Long Pulse Generator Based on Magnetic Switches

Magnetic switches could improve the stability, reliability, repetition rate, and life of pulsed power systems, based on which, a high power, low impedance, and long pulse generator has been investigated numerically and experimentally. The generator accomplishes the power compression and the pulse forming at a relatively low voltage level, consisting of a core-type pulse transformer, a two-stage magnetic compression unit, a low impedance pulse forming network, and magnetic type main switches. A full circuit model was developed using PSPICE software to analyze key factors that influence output characteristics of the generator. Key subsystems were manufactured and experimental research was carried out on the whole system. Preliminary results achieved with a dummy load of 2.5 Ω show that the output pulse power is about 2.0 GW and the pulsewidth is about 170 ns, which are in reasonable agreement with the numerical analysis.