Solid state power modulator for terrestrial and spaceborne short pulse millimeter wave radar transmitters

A new generation of power modulators has been developed especially for use in millimeter wave radar applications. The development was focused on a design suitable for a reliable long life operation in a rugged environment or in space. The design requirements for the power modulator are dedicated to a millimeter wave extended interaction klystron with an RF output power of 1 kW, a typical pulse length of 3.3 /spl mu/s with a p.r.f. of 0-6300 pulses per second. The power supply provides a -17 kV cathode voltage and an intermediate collector voltage. A technological key element of the power supply is the grid modulator. The transmitter application requests fast and precise voltage swing (<100 ns) between the blocking voltage of 3 kV and the beam-on voltage of a few volts, which can be satisfied by a high voltage MOSFET driver in push-pull configuration.