Switching Requirements for Stacked Blumleins Commutated by Individual Switches

Stacked Blumlein lines with solid dielectric potentially offer a compact pulsed power system for a variety of applications by combining the energy storage, voltage scaling, and pulse forming functions into a single device. By stacking the lines physically, not simply electrically, the line is made more compact because adjacent lines share electrodes. This design does not lend itself to the use of a single switch to commutate the stacked line, and multiple switches are far simpler to implement. The switch jitter and electrical characteristics strongly influence the performance of the line and the stresses on the dielectric. This paper explores the effects of switch jitter, inductance, the resistive decay during closure, and the closed-state resistance on the output pulse and dielectric stresses for stacked Blumlein lines using SPICE simulations. The impact of switch operation on the necessary dielectric strength and the quality of pulse is presented. The suitability of various switch technologies to meet the performance requirements is also discussed.