Solid-state Marx generator with 24 KV 4H-SIC IGBTs

This paper presents results on the utilization of newly-developed 24-kV n-channel silicon carbide Insulated-Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs) for Marx generator circuits. These state-of-the-art devices were evaluated in a small-scale, four-stage voltage multiplication circuit for their possible use in multi-scale power modulators. The 24 kV IGBTs had a chip area of 0.81 cm² and were rated for 20 A. Their active area was 0.28 cm², with a drift region of 230 μm, and a field-stop buffer of 2 μm. To evaluate device performance, the Marx generator was operated in single pulse mode. The input voltage was varied from 1 kV to 8 kV to obtain output voltages of 4 kV and 32 kV, respectively. The Marx generator delivered 0.6 MW to a low-inductance resistive load of 1500 Ω. The silicon carbide IGBTs displayed promising results for possible use in pulsed-power applications.