A 6 kV 150 A, 8 ns rise time pulse generator for excitation of ferroelectric cathodes

A pulse generator with the following characteristics is presented: the volt age ranges in the interval 0.1-6 kV, the maximum delivered current is 150 A , the pulse length ranges within the interval 100-300 ns, the rise time and the decay times are, respectively, 10 and 25 ns on 50 Omega resistive load and the repetition rate is higher than 1 MHz. The circuit has a source cap acitor of 10 nF charged at the needed voltage, the capacitor feeds the load through a parallel of two fast and high voltage solid state switches. The nanosecond rise time and the square fashion of the pulse have been accompli shed arranging all the components in cylindrical symmetry. A bipolar pulse is obtained coupling two circuits with opposite polarity. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0034-6748(99)02502-2].