Multi-stage pulse compression using an exploding foil and a PEOS [plasma erosion opening switch]

Various applications, such as high power X-ray and microwave sources, require high-voltage power pulses with a very short rise time. The components involved are often bulky and difficult to contain, and are unsuitable for use in many remote situations. Flux compressors provide both the high energy and lightweight packaging needed in these situations, and when combined with a conditioning circuit using a plasma erosion opening switch (PEOS) as the final stage, they constitute very useful MV/ns generators. This paper presents a proposal for a flux compressor driven MV/ns generator with explosively formed fuse and PEOS conditioning. Details of the circuit components are given, and experimental results from tests using a suitable PEOS driven by the conditioned output of a capacitor bank are presented and discussed. Comparisons are made with results provided by a numerical model of the system, and with published results from experiments using a PEOS with similar characteristics.