Measurements on a FET based 1 MHz, 10 kV pulse generator

A prototype pulser, which incorporates thirty-two 1 kV field-effect transistor (FET) modules, has been built and tested at TRIUMF. The pulser has been developed for application in a scheme for pulsed extraction from the TRIUMF 500 MeV cyclotron. Deflection of the beam will be provided by an electric field between a set of 1 m long deflector plates. The pulser generates a continuous, unipolar, pulse train at a fundamental frequency of approximately 1 MHz and a magnitude of 10 kV. The pulses have 38 ns rise and fall times and are stored on a low-loss coaxial cable which interconnects the pulse generator and the deflector plates. The circuit performance was evaluated with the aid of PSpice in the design stage and confirmed by measurements on the prototype. Temperature measurements have been performed on 1 kV FET modules under DC conditions and compared with temperatures under operating conditions to ensure that switching losses are acceptable. Results of various measurements are presented and compared with simulations.