Compact Nanosecond Pulse Generator

A compact nanosecond pulse generator was designed and tested. The generator has a specially designed unit consisting of an HCEIcap 1000.2 capacitor and a multigap switch. The total inductance of the unit is 20 nH. The modifications made in the design allowed an increase in energy density up to 370 J/l at an electric field strength of 200 kV/mm. The volume of the capacitor active part is 2.3 l. In the short-circuit mode, the unit ensures a current up to 200 kA with a risetime of 100 ns at a charge voltage of 90 kV. The dimensions of the capacitor active part are Ø80 × Ø160 × 160 mm. With an X-pinch load (four W wires of diameter 15 μm), the rate of rise of the current is 140 kA/70 ns and the X-ray pulsewidth is 2 ns. The peculiarity of the load is that it absorbs a small amount of energy compared to the energy stored in the capacitor. Therefore, it is proposed to use exploded wires in the discharge circuit of the capacitor to ensure a current cutoff at the instant the energy stored in the capacitor is close to zero. Thus, it will be possible to suppress or preclude the oscillation mode of the capacitor and hence to increase its lifetime.