Analysis and design of multiswitch driver for high pulsed voltage generators

This paper presents a multiswitch driver for high pulsed voltage generators (PVGs). A high PVG usually needs many switches formed with multiple MOSFETs connected in series to yield high output pulsed voltage. It has been often used for processing microbes, such as food sterilization, waste treatment, pollution control and medical diagnostics and treatment. With the proposed multiswitch driving circuits, the number of switch MOSFETs connected in series can be raised, while the component counts to produce the desired pulsed voltage waveforms can be reduced. As a result, its weight and size can be reduced significantly and its efficiency can be correspondingly improved. A prototype of a full-bridge switch driving waveform generator for driving four sets of switches to chop a DC 10 kV into ±10 kV/±0.1 A has been successfully implemented and it has demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed driving scheme.