Development of Miniature Marx Generator using BJT

Abstract

We have developed a small sized all solid-state pulsed power generator for industrial applications and biomedical applications such as an ozonizer and a cell treatment. In this paper, a novel 19 stages Miniature Marx Generator using bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) to produce high voltage and low energy pulses with nano-seconds pulse rise time is described. This pulsed power generator is consisted of a Cockroft-Walton circuit and a Miniature Marx circuit. The Cockroft-Walton circuit charges all capacitors and the charging voltage is about 300 V. The Miniature Marx circuit is consisted of resistors, capacitors, and BJTs as extreme high speed closing switches using avalanche breakdown phenomena. Another set of BJTs are placed in parallel with the load to turning off a load current. The size of Miniature Marx circuit is 72 mm × 95 mm. The pulsed power generator developed here has an output voltage of about -5.2 kV and a pulse duration of 7 ns. The charging energy of primary capacitors is the milli-Joule regime.