An Evaluation of Power Semiconductor Switches for Pulsed Power Applications

The development of high-power solid-state devices contributes to improving the size, efficiency, energy density, and cost of pulsed power systems. These small devices are replacing bulky spark gaps that are hard to quickly turn on or off and suffer from a short operational lifetime. Current solid-state switches available on the market can withstand hundreds of amps and can block voltages around 1 kV. Three of these switches are stacked in series to provide a blocking voltage greater than 3 kV and a reliable gating method is discussed. Sixth generation high speed IGBT switches and third generation SiC MOSFETS are tested. A method of packaging a current controlled Solidtron™thyristor is presented. These three high-power solid-state semi conductor switches are compared for their use in driving a large inductive load such as the primary of a high voltage pulse transformer. To demonstrate the switch performance in a practical application, a pulse charger capable of delivering a 100 kV pulse with single microsecond rise times was designed and is presented in this paper. The pulse charger is a standalone unit power by 120 VAC with various control options. A custom high voltage connector was designed to interface with a DS-2121 high voltage coaxial cable. A PIC microcontroller monitors and controls the unit. A primary storage capacitor is charged and discharged into a high voltage pulse transformer through a solid-state switch assembly. The unit is controlled through LCD, dials, and push buttons. TTL level trigger input via BNC connector can also be used to initiate charging and firing when precise timing is needed.

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