A durable gigawatt class solid state pulsed power system

Abstract

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.

Dispersion and Dielectric Effects on Reflection and Transmission of Electromagnetic Waves Propagating in Multiple Stages of Tape-Helix Blumlein Transmission Lines

“…Transmission line is a device which can be employed to transport and propagate electromagnetic waves in different frequency bands, and it has important applications in power system [1,2], electromagnetic communication technology [3], signal measurement [4,5], pulse delay and transmission [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13], and pulsed power technology [14][15][16]. Usually, the transmission line has intrinsic power capacity and working band.…”

Effects of the Inductive Port of Blumlein Transmission Line on the Reflection and Transmission Characteristics of Electromagnetic Waves

“…Transmission line (TL) is an important device for guiding and propagating electromagnetic waves in a special band, and it has been widely used in communications [1,2], pulse modulation and signal measurement [3][4][5][6], microwave technology [7][8][9][10] and pulsed power technology [11][12][13][14][15]. Every TL has its own characteristic impedance, and the impedance of a dispersive TL changes in line with the work frequency [15,16].…”

“…However, the dispersive propagating theory of traveling waves reveals that those coefficients aforementioned are determined by the port impedances, dielectric characteristics and work frequency [16]. The common concerned wave reflection cases of the TL include 3 types such as wave reflection at the joint port of TL-TL [13], or at the joint port of TL-resistor [11], or at the joint ports of TL-resistor-TL [14].…”

“…In many applications, a switch is required to connect with the TL port [11][12][13][14][15][16], in order to control the propagating courses of the electromagnetic waves. The common-used switches include the trigger switch, semiconductor switch, spark gap switch [13,14] and magnetic switch [11,16].…”

“…The common-used switches include the trigger switch, semiconductor switch, spark gap switch [13,14] and magnetic switch [11,16]. When the switch is open, the TL port of the switch is also open with an infinitely large impedance.…”