A Generator of High-Power Pulses with Nanosecond Front Edge Based on Blocks of Shock-Ionized Dynistors

Abstract The possibility of efficiently using the principle of pulse voltage multiplication in generators of powerful nanosecond pulses based on high-voltage blocks of shock-ionized dynistors is demonstrated. The electric circuit and design of a generator containing a coaxial cable with a characteristic impedance of 75 Ω and four modules with an operating voltage of 10 kV are described. The modules are switched on in a relay-race mode; each module includes a block of dynistors and a capacitor bank with a capacitance of 8.8 nF. The results of an experimental study of the generator are given. When the cable is connected to a 75-Ω resistor and the capacitors are charged to a voltage of 10 kV, the generator provides the formation of output voltage pulses with an amplitude of ~38 kV, a front-edge duration of ~4.5 ns, and a half-height duration of ~145 ns. The jitter of the output pulses does not exceed 2 ns. When connecting the cable to a spark gap, the generator is capable of operating in a wide range of spark-gap breakdown voltages, as well as in the idling mode, in which the voltage amplitude at the end of the cable reaches a value close to 80 kV. The possibility of scaling up the generator output parameters is shown.