A 150 kV, 2.5 ns, 100 Hz Blumlein pulser

A series of modifications made on a Febetron X-ray machine at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to provide a repetitive, fast rise time, high voltage pulser is described. The 10 Hz electron beam machine was modified to produce a pulser capable of generating a 150 kV, 2.5 ns FWHM (full width at half maximum) pulse at a frequency of 100 Hz with less than a 1 ns rise time. A secondary self-breaking output switch was designed to eliminate the prepulse of the pulser output. In addition, 150 kV output cable was added to the pulser to drive an external load. Detailed explanations of each modification are presented. To date, a total of over 80000 shots have been generated by the pulser without any failures of the Marx capacitors or the output switch