Development of a 90-Stage Inner-Isolated All Solid-State Stacked Blumlein Pulse Generator

Abstract

The stacked Blumlein pulse generator (SBPG), famed for its exceptional voltage efficiency, represents a leading technological approach among direct-drive high-power microwave (HPM) drivers. This article presents a novel inner-isolated all solid-state SBPG (IISBPG), blending the advantages of SBPG topology and semiconductor switches. It thoroughly resolves high-voltage driver isolation issue, extending the application range of insulate-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT)-based SBPG. The presented IISBPG incorporates pulsed power bricks and isolation bricks. The pulsed power brick, consisting of a two-stage pulse forming network (PFN) and IGBT arrays, generates a high-voltage pulse of 10 kV. The isolation brick, equipped with common mode (CM) inductors and optical components, is used to alter the charging and discharging circuits and trigger the switch. A 90-stage IISBPG was constructed and tested. The results show that pulses can be superimposed to reach 432 kV, with a stable output current of 720 A.