Improvements on transmission-line pulsers

A series of pulsers operating up to 100 kW with efficiencies up to 80 percent have been built. The voltage levels, rise times, durations, and repetition rates have been investigated for pulsers operating into different loads. The difficulties of mechanical and solid-state switching (e.g., contact erosion, sticking, and bouncing contacts), have been eliminated by using a stream of mercury droplets to bridge the gap between two switch electrodes in order to discharge a transmission line into a load or by discharging charged mercury droplets into the load.