A compact electron beam driver based on the annular parallel-plate pulse forming lines

Abstract

A compact electron beam driver based on an annular parallel-plate pulse forming line (APPPFL) was presented in this paper. Compared with the traditional system, the characteristics of compactness and flat-top waveform output have been achieved by using APPPFLs, which can generate a high voltage quasirectangular pulse up to 20 kV with a width of 60 ns, a rising edge of 10 ns at a lower matched load with an impedance of 1.25 Ω. The key part of the driver is the Marx generator, which consists of 37 stages, each of the stages consisting of an APPPFL, a gas spark switch, two charging inductors, and a nylon insulator that provides insulation between two stages as well as mechanical support. The generator is charged synchronously with positive and negative voltages to reduce the difficulty of the insulation design. When the APPPFL of each stage was charged up to ±20 kV, the output voltage and current of the electron beam driver are 680 kV and 15 kA at a 46 Ω planar diode load, respectively, and the power of the output electron beam is 10 GW. The repetition frequency operation of the electron beam driver has also been investigated.