A high power linear solid state pulser

Particle accelerators usually require high voltage and high power. Typically, the high voltage/power generation utilizes a topology with an energy store and switching mechanisms to extract that stored energy. The switches may be active or passive devices. Active switches are hard or soft vacuum tubes, or semiconductors. When required voltages exceed tens of kilovolts, numerous semiconductors are stacked to withstand that potential. Such topologies can use large quantities of crucial parts that, when in series, compromise a system´s reliability and performance. This paper describes the design of a linear, solid state amplifier that uses a parallel array of semiconductors, coupled with unique transmission line transformers. This system can provide output signals with voltages exceeding 10 kV (into 50-ohms), and with rise and fall times (10-90 percent amplitude) that are less than 10-ns. This solid state amplifier is compact, modular, and has both hot-swap and soft-fail capabilities