Design of a compact 400 MW pulsed power source with high-quality waveform generation

This paper presents a high-voltage square-wave pulse driver based on a PAN-Marx topology for high-power microwave experiments. The drive source uses a compact, modular design, powered by a 60 V lithium battery, and boosts voltage through high-frequency constant current charging and a high-coupling coefficient air-core Tesla transformer to pulse-charge a 7-stage PFN-Marx. To address the issue of pulse flattop waveform quality, the PFN-Marx circuit parameters were determined according to target parameters, and a genetic algorithm was introduced to optimize inter-stage inductances, effectively suppressing flattop oscillations. On a 75 Ω water resistor load, it outputs quasi-square wave pulses with an amplitude of -189.2 kV, pulse width of 93.2 ns, rise time of 8.4 ns, and ripple of 3.5%, with a peak power of 477 MW. After system integration, the charging control unit has dimensions of 482 × 443 × 177 mm3 and weighs 12.6 kg, while the Tesla transformer and PFN-Marx generator have dimensions of Φ370 × 848 mm2 and weigh 28.7 kg. The system meets the design requirements, and subsequent high-power microwave application tests will be conducted.