B-Dot and D-Dot Sensors for (Sub)Nanosecond High-Voltage and High-Current Pulse Measurements

Abstract

• A submitted manuscript is the version of the article upon submission and before peer-review. There can be important differences between the submitted version and the official published version of record. People interested in the research are advised to contact the author for the final version of the publication, or visit the DOI to the publisher's website.• The final author version and the galley proof are versions of the publication after peer review.• The final published version features the final layout of the paper including the volume, issue and page numbers. Link to publication General rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.• Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research.• You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal. Abstract-In this paper, we present a large-bandwidth, highcurrent and high-voltage measuring system for pulse measurements in pulsed power systems. The developed sensors can be easily calibrated, require no extensive (3D) modeling, are very compact, are inexpensive, and have a bandwidth of up to several GHz. Moreover, they can be used in any pulsed power system where a pulse source is connected to its load by a coaxial cable (without disturbing the coaxial geometry).We developed this sensor system for use with our nanosecond pulse source system. The type of sensors we used are Ddot and B-dot sensors, which are compactly mounted on the coaxial cable that connects our nanosecond pulse source to its load. This enables us to measure the characteristics of each sensor very precisely with a vector network analyzer. With these characteristics -combined with the characteristics of the measuring cable assembly -we can numerically reconstruct the voltage and current waveforms that passed the sensor positions. Our calibration approach, the mounting on the coaxial cable and the post-processing of the results make these sensors very flexible. While we use the sensors for energy measurements, camera triggering and the general measurement of the pulses, other researchers can use these type of sensors as well in any system where a (coaxial) cable connects a pulse source to its load.

Spatiotemporally resolved imaging of streamer discharges in air generated in a wire-cylinder reactor with (sub)nanosecond voltage pulses

“…This allows for full automation of the nanosecond pulse source once the required spark-gap distance and PFL length are set by hand. On the SA24272 coaxial cable that connects the plasma reactor to the pulse source, we mounted B-dot and D-dot sensors to measure the current and voltage of the highvoltage pulses respectively [64]. …”

Theoretical and Experimental Studies of Off-the-Shelf V-Dot Probes

“…A final note about calibration concerns the signal cables used to connect the V-dot sensors to the measuring instrument (e.g., the oscilloscope). When measuring high-frequency signals (i.e., in the GHz range), such cables can introduce a supplementary attenuation to the measured signals [9,10]. It is important to always use as short as possible and extremely low-loss cables for such measurements.…”

“…It is important to always use as short as possible and extremely low-loss cables for such measurements. Alternatively, the measuring system can be calibrated for the loss of these cables (especially if they are very long), either by de-embedding their response in the measuring instrument, or by numerical reconstruction [9,10,13]. Fig.…”

“…(TLs) and will demonstrate that use of 'standard' V-dot probes, simply made from off-the-shelf SMA-or N-type connectors and adaptors [9][10][11], represents a practical solution which potentially offers a simpler alternative to most of the design challenges associated with V-dot probes. The results of the present work are of particular interest for anyone in the domain aiming to obtain results straightforwardly, without losing precious time in developing a new V-dot probe design.…”

Design and construction of a single-axis, low-frequency magnetic probe (B-dot probe) calibrated with a LCvar Helmholtz resonant circuit

“…A small single-axis magnetic probe (also known as B-dot) has been designed and constructed to measure the pulsed magnetic field in a Circular Demountable Toroidal Field Coil (CDTFC) [1]. Similar phenomena like electromagnetic thrusters [2], lightning in transmission lines [3], magnetic field compression by puff-gas Z pinches [4], nano-second high voltage generation, high electrical current measurements in pulsed power systems [9], radio-frequency plasma measurements [10], and many other pulsed transient experiments make use of B-dot probes. Measurement of these pulsed transient phenomena can be a challenging task when the probe must be sensitive to all three components of the magnetic field, have enough sensitivity to detect low magnetic fields of some Gauss, and in some cases have a good response in frequency of some GHz.…”