IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation

Vol. 22, No. 4; August 2015

1887

A Novel Generator for High-voltage Bipolar Square Pulses

with Applications in Sterilization of Microorganism
Xiong Lan1*, Ma Long1, Xie Zi-jie1, Xin Qin2, Zhang De-qing1 and Yang Zi-kang1
1 State Key Laboratory of Power Transmission Equipment & System Security and New Technology
Chongqing University, Chongqing400044, China
2 University of Faroe Islands, FO 100, Torshavn, Faroe Islands, Denmark

ABSTRACT
In this paper, we propose and design a novel generator for the high voltage square pulses
with the changeable polarities in order to reach the requirements and the needs for the
intended experiments on sterilization of microorganism. The major component of our
circuits is a non-trivial combination between a half bridge Marx generator and an H bridge
in series, combining with the DSP control unit, which can adjust the voltages, frequencies,
pulse widths and polarities, and also tolerate various loads. More precisely, we illustrate
the design and operation principles for each module in the constructed circuit and analyze
the system performance with various loads. The effectiveness and correctness of our
proposed circuit and methodologies have been verified and demonstrated by both PSIM
simulation results and our own prototype. In this paper, we also show the stability and
reliability of the pulse generator we proposed in terms of various load conditions and
operation safety respectively. Furthermore, we also observe that the key parameters based
on our constructed pulse generator can be easily adjusted which include voltages,
frequencies, pulse widths and polarities. We hope that our work will stimulate the further
investigations on design and analysis of pulse generators with a focus on modularization
and miniaturization.
Index Terms - Bipolar, Square pulse, Rising edge, Marx generator, H bridge.

INTRODUCTION

ALTHOUGH chemical medicines are widely used to kill

various microorganism in the industrial water circulation
systems, the experimental studies [1-2] on the effects of pulsed
electric field (PEF) with applications on sterilization of
microorganism have been also investigated for dozens of years
and many advantages and benefits have been addressed
including the sustainable environmental protection of water
resources with a high efficiency. Therefore, the pulsed electric
field has been considered as one of the major microorganism
inhibition technologies [2-5] for industrial applications.
High voltage pulse generator is the core device of
microorganism sterilization system, and its circuit
characteristics, features and operational principles are
playing a crucial role on the system performance. According
to the existing methodologies in the literature [5-7], the
inactivation level depends on electric field intensity, pulse
waveform and also treatment period. Yao observed that steep
pulsed electric field with 100 ns front edge of pulses can
have an excellent killing effect [6] on tumor cells compared
Manuscript received on 12 July 2014, in final form 3 September
2014, accepted 8 September 2014.

with others. A research group of Washington State

University proved that bipolar square pulses attained the best
sterilization effect on colibacillus, haybacillous and also wine
yeast compared to various waveforms [7] such as unipolar
square pulses, exponential decaying pulses. On the other
hand high voltage pulses are imposed on different treatment
chamber or in the solution directly, different loads have
various performance such as resistive, capacitive or inductive
one. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a competent pulse
generator with the flexibility for various loads.
Sungwoo Baee et al put forward a bipolar rectangular
pulse generator for intended application of algal cell
membrane rupture for oil extraction [8]. This generator can
output series of pulses with tunable parameters such as
voltage amplitude, frequency, pulse width and polarity with
relatively low cost. However, circuit of literature [8] should
be adjusted to meet the need of our intended experiments.
For example, too many inductors in the Marx generator
increase the voltage across the switches when they are
switched off, which may lead to switches destruction and
lowering
down
generators
operation
reliability.
Meanwhilethey may increase the size of generator and
complexity of circuit design and adjustment, and may not
have a good performance with the capacitive loads.

DOI 10.1109/TDEI.2014.004805

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X. Lan et al.: A Novel Generator for High-voltage Bipolar Square Pulses with Applications in Sterilization of Microorganism

To sum up, we try to design an easier and more reliable

circuit to output bipolar square pulses with tunable voltage,
frequency, polarity, steep front edge and also high flexibility
for various loads, and it can be more compact.

2 LAYOUT, CONSTRUCTION, AND

SIMULATION OF THE GENERATOR
2.1 LAYOUT OF THE CIRCUIT
After investigation on the advantages and disadvantages
[8-20] for various high voltage pulse generators, we finally
adopt solid state Marx generator as one of the major
components in our generator since it can easily generate
square pulses with high frequencies and ns-level rising edge
of pulses. In addition, this kind of generators can
accommodate various modules with more flexible controls
and smaller sizes. Considering of specific experiment loads,
we adopt the structure of Marx generator of literature [8]
because of its good performance for flexible output
parameters.
According to the studies [21-22] by Luis M. Redondo, we
choose a half bridge Marx generator which can output
repetitive positive pulses with more compact structure.
Unlike circuit of reference [8], our modified Marx circuit
does not include any inductor so that the maximum voltage
across its switches is strictly clamped to the maximum value
of capacitors. In addition, we also connect it with an H bridge
in series to output pulses of various polarities as the one in
[8].

device in a classic Marx generator which can lead to a very

low charging current or a tough layout of the inductors. All
switches in the Marx generator and the H bridge in Figure 1
are IGBTs with an anti-parallel diode. The load ZL consists of
three types of devices, namely elements R, L and C in series.
It shows the different properties with the different
parameters.
All switches in the Marx generator and the H bridge in
Figure 1 are IGBTs with an anti-parallel diode. The load ZL
consists of three types of devices, namely elements R, L and
C in series. It shows the different properties with the different
parameters.
Figure 2 shows that the whole system is made up of four
modules including a DC power supply, a unipolar Marx
generator, an H bridge, control and the corresponding
protection circuits.

DC Power
Supply

Unipolar
Marx
Generator

H Bridge

Load

Drive
Circuits

High
Voltage
Probe

DSP Control
Circuit

Oscilloscope

Control
Control and
and
Protection
Protection Circuits
Circuits

Figure 2. Structure diagram of bipolar square pulse generator

Tc0

Td1

Td(n-1)

Dc1

Dc(n-1)

Tdn

rdc
Udc

Tc1

Tc(n-1)

C1

Tcn

Cn-1

H2-

Cn

H1+

C ZL
Vo

H1-

Io

Through drive circuits, the DSP control circuit takes

charge of operation modes of the other three modules, which
makes it easy to adjust parameters of output pulses, e.g. peak
values, widths, frequencies and front edge periods.
Meanwhile, it generates a set of time sequence signals to
switch on/off all IGBTs alternatively. It especially switches
off each arm of the H bridge on conditions with a very low
voltage across them, which is helpful to reduce the power
loss from IGBTs and to avoid the troubles on design of the
dynamic voltage balancing circuits. Details on the operation
modes and the type selections will be discussed in later
sections.

H2+

Figure 1. The circuit for the bipolar square pulse generator

Figure 1 shows that each stage of Marx generator includes

a capacitor Cj (j=1, 2 n), a diode Dck (k=1, 2 n-1), and
two switches, namely Tci (i=0, 2 n) and Tdj. If it is the time
for capacitors to discharge and output pulses, the
will be
switched off which consequently isolates the DC power
supply (Udc) and the discharging loop. Otherwise, a very big
resistor or an inductor should be the important isolation

2.2 SIMULATION ANALYSIS OF OPERATION

PRINCIPLES
Figure 1 is the circuit structure for the bipolar square pulse
generator. Figure 3 shows a set of time sequence signals from
DSP controller and the waveform of output voltage across a
resistive load.
In Figure 3 the
is the control signal to switch on/off
simultaneously, namely switch on/off capacitors
is the control signal to switch on / off
charging loop.

IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation

T

Vol. 22, No. 4; August 2015

1889

VTci

Tc0

(V)

Dc1

Dc(n-1)

rdc

t0
VTdj

Tc1

Udc
t1

t2

t3

t4

t5 t6

t7

t8

t9

t10

t11 t12

Tc(n-1)

C1

(s)

Cn-1

Cn

(V)

Figure 4. U dc charges capacitors D ck in parallel.

t0
VH1+/-

t1

t2

t3

t4

t5 t6

t7

t8

t9

t10

t11 t12

t1

t2

t3

t4

t5 t6

t7

t8

t9

t10

t11 t12

(s)

(V)

t0

VH2+/-

(s)

(V)

switching on Tdj in case that both Tci and Tdj are switched on
is switched on capacitors in
accidentally. When t= ,
series discharge energy to the resistive load through the loop
,
the ideal output voltage may be
of
obtained by =n . The discharging loop which outputs
positive pulses is shown in the Figure 5. In fact, the peak of
positive pulses will tilt owing to the discharging time
constant , which is calculated as follows
=

t0

Vo

t1

t2

t3

t4

t5 t6

t7

t8

t9

t10

t11 t12

t1

t2

t3

t4

t5 t6

t7

t8

t9

t10

t11 t12

(s)

(V)

t0

(1)

Where
is the equivalent resistance of capacitors in series
is big enough
discharging loop. Considering that
the waveform of pulses is considered as the
and >>3.5
square pulses. Ideally, Vo=nUdc.
Td1

Td(n-1)

Tdn

(s)

C1

Cn-1

Cn

Figure 3. Time sequence signals from DSP controller and bipolar

voltage across a resistive load

simultaneously, namely switch on/off capacitors

discharging loop.
is the control signal for the positive
arm of the H bridge. Obviously,
is the control signal
for the negative arm of the H bridge. High level signal
switches on the IGBT in the circuit, vice versa.
Now, we will analyze the operation principles of the
circuit on the different conditions with various loads.

2.2.1 THE RESISTIVE LOADS

In both the Figure 3 and the Figure 4 is switched on
before t=
is switched off. Then, Dci is always on, and
charges capacitors
in parallel. The voltages across
each capacitor might be
ideally in the steady states.
Furthermore, =0 sicne
and
are switched off.
When t=
are switched off, and
is isolated to
capacitors by TCO
remains off. Switch stacks
and
in the H bridge are already switched on. Whereas, stacks
and
in the H bridge are off. Therefore,
remains
zero. There is a short period between
and t1, which
guarantees the time difference between switching off Tci and

Vo

H1+

Io
H1-

Figure 5. Capacitors
positive pulses.

in series discharging loop which outputs

When t=
is on, it shuts down the capacitors
drops down to zero
discharging loop. Consequently,
to t3 in
promptly. There is a short time interval between
are on
the case of short circuit. When t=
and
charges capacitors in parallel again through
IGBT
stacks
off. When t=
and
are switched
are
on, which makes it possible for outputting the negative
stops charging. While
pulses. When t= are off
t =0.

are switched on. Figure 6

shows that capacitors in series discharge energy to the load
and stacks
namely output the negative
through
pulses. The ideal output voltage =-n
When t=
are switched off, they shut down the
are
discharging loop. Consequently, =0. When t=

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X. Lan et al.: A Novel Generator for High-voltage Bipolar Square Pulses with Applications in Sterilization of Microorganism

switched on
dischages
capacitors in parallel. When
t=
are switched off. Until t=
are
switched on and ready for outputting a positive pulse. While
t =0When t= the time sequence of DSP
control signals repeat again. Thereforethe Marx generator
operates in the second period and is ready for the generation
of the second positive pulses. In fact, IGBT stacks
are switched on or off alternatively, which
leads to the opposite polarities of the output pulses. In
another words, it is easy to change the polarities of output
pulses by the modification of the control signals.

Similarly, load capacitor discharges through

and antiparallel diodes of stacks
till t= then
changes
quickly from nUdc to zero.
We assume that the Marx generator has 9 stages and pulse
frequency is 1 kHz the parameters of the capacitive loads are
C=500 pF and R=600 respectively. Consequently, we get
the simulation waveforms of Vo2 and Io2 with PSIM software
that are shown in the Figure 8.

Tc1
Td1

Td(n-1)

C1

Tc(n-1)

Tdn

Cn-1

Io

Cn

H1+

R
C
H2-

Vo

H1R

Vo

Io
H2+

Figure 6. Capacitors
negative pulses.

Tcn

Figure 7. Load capacitor discharging loop that generates the positive

pulses.

in series discharging the loop that outputs the

Assuming Udc=800 Vthe Marx generator has 9 stages

and the required pulse frequency is 1 kHzthe load is a pure
resistance R=700 respectively. By the PSIM software,
simulation waveforms of control signals and output pulses
(Vo1 and Io1) are generated in the Figure 8.
In the Figure 8a, V1V2V3and V4 normalized
level are the control signals of

respectively, where V0 and I0 are output voltage and the

current of a pure resistor. These simulation data demonstrates
that the pulse generator in terms of the circuit structure works
pretty well under the conditions with a resistive load.

2.2.2 THE CAPACITIVE LOAD

The time sequences of control signals are the same no
matter for the various kinds of the loads. However, the
differences compared with a capacitive load are shown
below. When the Cj capacitors in series discharge energy to
the load, the output voltage across the load capacitance
should be ideal
=n
on the conditions that the
equivalent resistance multiplies capacitance are relatively
small. Moreover, the load capacitance should discharge
energy inside when the discharging signal disappears.
Otherwise, the back edge of output pulse will remain ideal
n
instead of decaying to zero. In the Figure 3,
are off
when t= only
are switched on other switches are
all off. There is not any discharging loop for the load
capacitor, therefore
remains n
until
are switched
on at t=
load capacitor
discharges through
and anti-parallel diodes of stacks
Meanwhile, a negative pulse current appears in the
Figure 8b, then =0.

(5 kV/div)

(5 A/div)

(500 s/div)

Figure 8 (a) The resistive loads

IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation

Vol. 22, No. 4; August 2015

1891

These simulation data in the Figure 8b demonstrates that

the pulse generator in terms of the circuit constructions
works very well on the conditions with a capacitive load. The
difference between Figure 8a and 8b is that the pulse width is
much wider in the latter case.
2.2.3 THE INDUCTIVE LOADS
The time sequence of control signals are the same no
matter for the various types of the loads. The difference for
an inductive load is described as follows. When the Cj
capacitors in series discharge energy to the load, the output
voltages across the load capacitance should be ideal by
=n . However, the load inductance should also
discharge energy inside through a loop in the case
overvoltage happens since iL changes suddenly, then the
discharging signal pulse disappears. In the Figure 3,
are
switched off when t= only
are switched on, and all
other switches are off. Therefore, the load inductor
discharges through two loops.
oop one
includes anti-parallel diodes of stacks
and switch

the loop two includes anti-parallel diodes of stacks

and
switch
. In fact, the loop three, which includes antiparallel diodes of stacks
and
, also helps for
inductors releasing energy.

(5 kV/div)

(10 A/div)

Tc1

Tc(n-1)

Tcn

(500 s/div)

Figure 8 (b). Capacitive load

H2-

H1+

R
L
2

Vo

H1-

I0

H2+

Figure 9. Load inductors energy releasing loop that generates the

positive pulses

(5 kV/div)

(10 A/div)

(5 V/div)

(500 s/div)

Figure 8 (c). Inductive load

Figure 8. Simulation waveforms of the control signals, the output voltages
and the currents with different loads.

,
are switched off, the loop three is
the only one loop which releases the energy of the load
=0. Similarly when
inductor to zero. Consequently,
are on and all other
are switched off at t= only
switches are turning off. The load inductor discharges
the loop one includes
through two loops.
and switch
the loop
anti-parallel diodes of stacks
and switch
two includes anti-parallel diodes of stacks
respectively. In fact, the loop three, which includes antiand , also helps the inductor
parallel diodes of stacks
,
are switched off, the
to release energy.
loop three is the only one loop left which releases the
energy of the load inductor to zero. Consequently, =0.
We assume that Marx generator has 9 stages the pulse
frequency is 1 kHz and the parameters of the inductive
load are R=600 and L=10 nH respectively. The simulation
waveforms based on PSIM software are given in the Figure
8c.

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X. Lan et al.: A Novel Generator for High-voltage Bipolar Square Pulses with Applications in Sterilization of Microorganism
Tc1

Tc(n-1)

H2-

H1+
R
L

2
3

H1-

Tcn

Vo
Io

H2+

=1800 V) from IXYS company, the 3 diodes in

series meet the requirements.
According to the time sequences given in Figure 3
stacks
and
switch on or off while
=0
which means that we need not design dynamic voltage
balancing circuits for
and
. However, the
static voltage balancing circuits should be included
because the differences of the static performance do exist
among the different IGBTs. It is necessary to prevent an
IGBT from breakdown or even avalanche breakdown of
more IGBTs.

Figure 10. The load inductor energy releasing loop that generates the
negative pulses.

These simulation data demonstrates that the pulse

generator in terms of the constructed circuit also works very
well on the condition with an inductive load.

Figure 11. The static voltage balancing circuit for an arm of the H
bridge

3 KEY COMPONENTS
Beyond the circuit design and simulation, a prototype
pulse generator is also developed in this work. The type
selections and the module installations are introduced in the
later sections.
3.1 MARX GENERATOR AND H BRIDGE
At first,
(70 and 200 W)
is chosen for resistor
.
The DC power supply in our prototype is DWW-K, the
product of Yangzhou Geershi company of China, the rated
output parameters are 1 kV voltage and 3 A current
respectively. The parameters are tunable by the connection
with a microcontroller. In order to output 7 kV voltage,
the Marx generator is made up of 9 stages, where n=9.
All switches used in our system are the IGBT.
and
are IKW40N120T2 (
=1200 V
=75 A
=60 ns). They also have an inner anti-parallel diode
( =75 A
=258 nswhich clamps voltage [21]
Vce lower than
in the case of IGBT breakdown when
the control signals are asynchronous.
is IDP09E120 ( =23 A
=140 ns
=1200 V). Capacitor
are DTH of Tianming
company of China (C=20 F the rated voltage is 1400 V
Icm= 30 A respectively, when f=10 kHz).
Switch stacks
and
are IXEL40N400
(
=4000 V
=40 A and
=260 ns respectively)
from IXYS company. In the Figure 14, the four switch
stacks (

and
) of an H
bridge are 3 IGBTs in series. However, they do not have
an anti-parallel diode inside which is obbligato to operate
on the conditions of the capacitive or the inductive loads.
Considering
IXEL40N400 is 4000 V, VRWM of the
diode should be the same as that
IXEL40N400.
Therefore, we choose DH60-18A ( =60 A =230 ns

Figure 11 shows that each resistor R and an IGBT are

connected in parallel three modules in series become one
arm of the H bridge. This resistance divider fulfills the static
voltage balancing functionalities. According to the data book
of IGBT IXEL40N400,
=1.5 mA the minimum
current of R is
>10

(2)

That can be also represented as,

>10

(3)

=4000 V then R<88.89 k. On the other

hand the power loss will be relatively big if R is too small.
Finally, we choose R=88 k, the rated power of resistor R
can be calculated by

(4)

=7000 V
is the minimum period
is
of Marx generator and normally sets at 1 ms
10 s (the maximum pulse width) respectively. Then we
0.62 W. Finally we choose a high voltage
get
non-inductive glass glaze resistor with 1% precision and
2 W rated power.
3.2 DRIVER LAYOUT FOR IGBTS
Besides providing enough high peak current and driving
power, float ground method must be applied to control
IGBTs on and off situation. We made a special design to
switch off them with the negative voltages and prevented
them from switching on accidentally owing to the parasitic
parameters.

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The peak current

and the driving power
of
drive circuits for IGBT can be calculated respectively as
follows,

25
V/div

=
=

(5)

(6)

In the equation (5)

is the difference between the
positive voltage and the negative voltage in the drive signals.
=15 V =30 V. According to data
Note also that
is settled
book of IKW40N120T2 and IXEL40N400,
as 33 and 39 respectively. Deriving from equation (5),
are 0.91 A and 0.77 A respectively.
In the equation (6),
of IKW40N120T2 and
IXEL40N400 are set at 1 kHz and 500 Hz respectively.
=30 V then
IKW40N120T2 and
Considering
IXEL40N400 are approximately 6 mW and 4 mW
respectively. Considering the power loss of drive circuits it
is necessary for a drive circuit to provide at least 10mW
power.
According to the Figure 1, Ve of most IGBTs is high
voltage floating level. Therefore, it is necessary to apply the
floating ground technology for the high voltage isolation, in
other words to isolate the DC source, the drive signals and
the high voltage modules. The output parameters of DC
source are given by 5 V and 2 W, and the highest voltage of
IGBTs is set at 7 kV. Therefore, we can connect two DC-DC
high-voltage isolation modules (G0515S-2W, 15 V, 2 W
and 1.5 A) in series because the maximum isolation voltage
is 6 kV. Drive modules are IXDN609PI from IXYS
company. In addition, the PWM signals are transmitted
through optic fibers (HFBR-0500Z of Avago company) from
microcontroller (TMS320F28335 of TI company) to drive
modules.

250 s/div

2
kV/div

(a) Unipolar waveforms of

and

250 s/div

kV/div

50
V/div
(b) Bipolar waveforms of

and

1 s/div

25
V/div

2
kV/div

4 PERFORMANCE EVALUATION WITH

VARIOUS LOADS
In order to verify whether the proposed system generates
the required parameters, we test the output waveforms on
various loads on the conditions of 9 stages half bridge Marx
= 780 V.
generator with
4.1 THE PURE RESISTOR
In the Figures 12a and the Figure 12b, either unipolar or
bipolar pulses can be output by controlling the on/off
situation of four arms of the H bridge. Note also that Io is
acquired from the voltage across a resistor (equivalent
resistance of 5.5 made of 4 cement resistors (22 , 5 W) in
parallel). When the load is a resistor of 700 the
waveform of a single pulse is given in the Figure 12c. It is a
square pulse even if the positive pulse tilts down slightly and
the output current vibrates for a very short time period.
In the Figure 12d, the front edge of the single square pulse
is generated at 160 ns.

(c) A single pulse of

and

2 kV/div
100 ns/div

(d) Front edge of a single pulse

Figure 12. Waveforms of

and

across a resistive load

Obviously, this proposed pulse generator is able to output

the square pulses with various polarities, whose maximum
values are 7 kV, 10 A and 1 kpps respectively.

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4.2 CAPACITIVE LOAD

To verify the flexibility for various loads, we substitute a
100 pF capacitor and a 1 k resistor in the series for the pure
resistor. The latter one is applied for restricting the output
current to 10 A in case of IGBT breakdown. Waveforms
of
and current
are shown in the Figure 13.
When Voc rises suddenly from zero to 7 kV,
rise
quickly to a peak at first and then decays to zero in a very
short time period. In the contrast, when Voc decreases
quickly from 7 kV to zero,
is a negative exponential
decaying pulse. The Figure 13b shows that
remains at
high voltages when
are off. Until
are switched on

25 V/div

1 s/div

2 kV/div

(a) Waveforms of

1 s/div

100 V/div

10 s/div

25
V/div

2
2 kV/div

kV/div
(a) Waveforms of

and
(b) Waveforms of V OL and V L across the inductor

10 s/div

V/div

2 kV/div

(b) Control signals of

Figure 13. Waveforms of

and

across capacitive load.

the load capacitor starts to discharge. Consequently,

decays to zero.
shows the different performances with a
resistive load.
4.3 THE INDUCTIVE LOADS
Now, we substitute a 10 H inductor and a 1 k resistor in
series for the pure resistor. The latter one is applied for
restricting the output current to 10 A.
and
are given in
the Figure 14. The Figure 14a is quite similar as the Figure
12c, which proves and indicates that the performances under
both resistive and inductive loads are similar.
The Figure 14b shows the waveforms of VOL and VL
across the inductor. When Tci and Tdj are triggered on the
opposite sides, the current of inductive load is forced to
change suddenly. Therefore, the voltage across the inductor
rises quickly to a peak and decays in a resonance way.
Moreover, in the end of positive pulses of the output

Figure 14. Waveforms of

across the inductive load

voltage, the inductor releases the energy again which leads to

a negative decaying pulse appearing.
In conclusion the tested verifications demonstrate that the
pulse generator for the constructed circuit in the Figure 2 is
both feasible and practical. In addition, the output parameters
meet the requirement for microorganism sterilization
experiments, that is, Vom= 7 kV, IOm=10 A fm=1 kpps
tr=160 ns and =3.5 s on the conditions of a rated load.

5. CONCLUSION
In this paper, we propose and design a novel generator
for the high voltage square pulses. The major component of
our circuits is a non-trivial combination between a half
bridge Marx generator and an H bridge in series, combining
with the DSP control unit, which can adjust the voltages,
frequencies, pulse widths and polarities, and also tolerate
various loads. The effectiveness and correctness of our
proposed circuit and methodologies have been verified and
demonstrated by both PSIM simulation results and our own
prototype.
The control signals effectively switch on/ off IGBT stacks
on the conditions with a very low voltage across them, which
is very helpful to decrease power loss, to avoid dynamic
voltage balancing design, and to realize the load flexibility.
Note also that the IGBT drive circuit not only provides
enough peak currents and the drive powers, but also controls
the on/off status of IGBTs with the driving technology of the

IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation

Vol. 22, No. 4; August 2015

floating ground. We also observe that the isolation ability in

our pulse generator is as high as 12 kV, which makes it
competent to isolate the drive power supplies and devices
with high voltages. Meanwhile, the optical fiber isolates the
DSP controller and devices on the high voltage side, which
can guarantee the safe operations of drive circuits.
We do hope that our work will stimulate the further
investigations on developments of the pulse generators with a
special focus on modularization and miniaturization.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work was supported partly by the National Natural
Science Foundation of China (51077139) and China
Scholarship Council.

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Xiong Lan was born in Chongqing, China, in

1972. She was granted the B.S., M.S., and
Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from
Chongqing University, Chongqing, China, in
1993, 2000, and 2004, respectively. She is
currently a professor at the College of
Electrical Engineering, Chongqing University.
Her research areas include application of pulsed
power technology in water treatment.