Study on a compact pulse forming line-Marx type high voltage pulse generator

High power pulse generators are moving in the direction of compact, solid-state, and stable working in a relatively long time. In this paper, a compact pulse forming line-Marx type high power pulse generator, based on a ceramic pulse forming line and a spark gap switch with carbide modified graphite electrodes, is studied numerically and experimentally. Specifically, a ceramic based pulse forming line with high relative permittivity was used to achieve long pulse duration in a limited dimension. A spark gap switch with carbide modified graphite electrodes was proposed to decrease the erosion of the electrodes, which can efficiently prolong the lifetime of the device. The generator was built. With a charging voltage of 34 kV approximately, pulses with peak current over 2.56 kA and a duration of about 86 ns were obtained on a matched dummy load of 50 Ω. The dimensions of the generator are 360 × 280 × 300 mm3. The device can continue working over 6000 pulses with a repetitive rate of 10 Hz, which meets potential applications, including plasma science research.