Pulse energy storage generator

1. Introduction Cell electroporation therapy (EPT), genetic therapy, ultrasonic cleaning, chemical-free bacterial decontamination, and medical imaging are the examples of vast applications that require a high-voltage pulse generator which can provide pulse width in a scale of a nanosecond, microsecond, and millisecond [1 – 11].

To achieve the pulse generator that has portable features, it must be designed in a compact size. Since the pulse generator needs a high voltage to operate, it must be equipped with a high-voltage source where a transformer is commonly employed. This, however, will cause the pulse generator to be heavy, bulky, and consume space.

Abstract: High-voltage square-wave nanosecond pulse generator has a broad application prospect in the fields of atmosphericn low-temperature plasma, biomedicine and power equipment detection. Pulse forming line is an effective way to realize high-voltage square-wave nanosecond pulse output.

Typically, energy is first stored at low voltage (<1000 V) in a primary energy storage element, such as a capacitor, and then transferred to the PFN via some kind of highvoltage transformer [10–13] or a Marx generator [14, 15]. The most straightforward nanosecond pulse source is the simple capacitive storage pulse source, shown in Fig. 1.2.

The PFN in a (nanosecond) pulse generator should release its energy rapidly. For instance, when a 1-ns rise time pulse is required, then this is also the time scale within which the energy must be released from the PFN. This requires a low-inductance PFN, such as capacitors or transmission lines.

The common nanosecond pulse generator is based on capacitive energy storage. Compared with the nanosecond pulse generator based on capacitive energy storage, the inductive energy storage has outstanding advantages in energy storage density, miniaturization of the device, and less influence of loop inductance.