Design of a 130 kV pulsed power supply for a spacebased CO/sub 2/ laser

By an advanced research programme, a concept for a space-based Doppler windlidar is established on the basis of an electron-beam sustained CO/sub 2/ laser. A mission time of 3 years corresponding to 10/sup 9/ laser pulses is projected. Aspects of a required 130 kV pulse transformer and a high voltage interconnection are studied on a breadboard model, which addresses selected space issues and investigates the feasibility of a compact low-mass design of less than 50 kg for the pulse transformer. The specified voltage pulse is generated by discharging a pulse forming network into the primary winding of the pulse transformer. The testing of the developed breadboard confirms the selected design. The measured pulse length is above 8 /spl mu/s and the pulse rise time is below 1.3 /spl mu/s. A successful long-term operation of more than 3.5 million pulses is completed.