Note: compact helical pulse forming line for the generation of longer duration rectangular pulse

Area of Science:

• Pulsed Power Engineering
• High Voltage Engineering
• Electromagnetics

Background:

• Pulsed forming lines (PFLs) are crucial for generating high-power pulses.
• Traditional coaxial PFLs face limitations in compactness and pulse duration.
• Developing compact and efficient PFLs is essential for advanced pulsed power applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and experimentally investigate a compact helical water pulsed forming line (PFL).
• To evaluate the performance of the helical PFL in terms of pulse characteristics and compactness.
• To explore the effect of deionized water temperature on the output pulse width.

Main Methods:

• A helical water PFL with a 22 Ohm impedance was designed and constructed.
• The PFL was charged to 200 kV in 4.5 μs using a high voltage pulse transformer.
• Discharge was achieved through a self-breakdown spark gap switch into a matched load; temperature effects were studied by varying water temperature.

Main Results:

• The helical PFL achieved a length reduction of 5.5 times compared to a coaxial PFL.
• A rectangular voltage pulse of 100 kV with a 260 ns full width at half maximum (FWHM) was generated.
• Reducing deionized water temperature to 5 °C increased the pulse width by up to 7%.

Conclusions:

• The helical water PFL offers a significant advantage in compactness for pulsed power drivers.
• Optimizing water temperature provides a method to further enhance pulse width and system miniaturization.
• This compact helical PFL design is a promising advancement for various high-voltage applications.