1194 C. Jiang et al.

: A Compact Repetitive Nanosecond Pulsed Power Generator Based on Transmission Line Transformer

A Compact Repetitive Nanosecond Pulsed Power Generator

Based on Transmission Line Transformer
Chunyang Jiang, Shengguo Xia, Qiongfang Wang and Junjia He
College of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Wuhan, 430074, China

ABSTRACT
In this paper, a compact repetitive nanosecond pulsed power generator based on
transmission line transformer (TLT) is developed for non-thermal plasma generation.
The high voltage capacitor, the spark gap switch and the input side of the TLT are
built into a compact structure to obtain a fast high-power pulse. The properly designed
magnetic cores placed around the coaxial cables of the TLT have been chosen to obtain
a higher voltage gain. The layout of TLT is optimized to make the generator more
compact. Experiment test shows that voltage pulses of 30 kV with rise time of about 25
ns, pulse duration of about 100 ns, pulse repetition rate of 500 pps have been achieved.
Index Terms - High-voltage pulse generator, non-thermal plasma, transmission-line
transformer.

1 INTRODUCTION In this paper, a repetitive nanosecond pulsed power generator

NONTHERMAL plasmas have been studied in depth for car
exhaust emission, surface modification, combustion enhancement,
clinical instrument sterilization, etc. The main advantage of those
technologies is that majority of the input energy is used to
accelerate the electrons rather than the heavy ions to collide with
background atoms and molecules to produce active species with
minimal heating. In order to avoid the glow-to-arc transition, the
pulses provided by the pulsed power generator should be with a
fast rise time, narrow pulse duration and high repetition rate [1].
In order to get a pulse with a fast rise time and narrow pulse
duration, the transmission line is applied. The TLT is designed
based on the transmission line, which multiplies the input voltage
at the same time of nanosecond pulse formation. This kind of the
nanosecond pulse generator is developed for a variety of
applications [2-5]. However, this kind of generator has a
relatively large size, which is inconvenient for use. To solve this
problem, we design and manufacture a compact and portable
pulse generator.
based on TLT for non-thermal plasma production is designed
and tested. It includes 3 stages of coaxial cables with length of
1.0 m. As in [3] and [8] a coaxial construction of capacitor, spark
gap switch and TLT is designed. The voltage gain reaches to 2.5.
2 ELEMENTS OF THE SYSTEM
2.1 PULSE FORMATION PROCESS
The schematic diagram of the generator is showed in the
Figure 1. It is a version of the circuit that first appeared in [3]
with improved versions in e.g. [11]. When K1 is closed, the C1
is charged via K1 and L1, then K1 is turned off when the
current reaches zero. After a certain time interval which is
determined by the pulse repetitive rates, the K2 will be closed,
then C1 discharges via the K2 and the pulse transformer, and
the high voltage capacitor CH is charged by a raised voltage of
the transformer which peak value is sixty times of voltage of
the C1. During the charging process 0  2  t   , the voltage

3k L2 C2 R1
L1 K1
T T
2.5mH A C Line 3
L 3mH
CH 2.2nF S ZL
AC C C1 Line 2
1mF 4uF

K2 Line 1

Figure 1. Schematic diagram of the generator, topology after [11].

Manuscript received on 29 September 2010, in final form 6 March 2011.

1070-9878/11/$25.00 © 2011 IEEE

IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Vol. 18, No. 4; August 2011 1195

of the capacitor CH can approximately expressed as [8] : In this system, a triggered spark gap switch is developed.
Vmax Figure 3 shows the schematic diagram of the switch, it works
V(t )  [1  cos(2  t )] (1) in atmospheric pressure.
2
C1  N 2 CH
where 2  is the resonant charging anode
cat hode

L
N 2 CH C1 2
N
frequency determined by C1, L and CH, N is the transformation
ratio.
At the same time of the CH charging process, the voltage i nsul at i ng mat er i al

difference VT-A between the trigger electrode and the anode of

the spark gap switch rises exponentially. Thus the gap
between the trigger electrode and the anode breaks down, and
then the main gap will be triggered. The CH charges TLT via
the switch, therefore, a high voltage pulse with fast rise time
can be obtained at the output of the TLT.
Vn Vn+1 Vs
Figure 3. A schematic diagram of triggered spark gap switch.
2.3 THE TLT
Transmission line transformer is a special transformer: the
coaxial cables are connected in parallel at the input terminal of
the transformer and connected in series at the output terminal.
Figure 4 shows the diagram of n-stage TLT.

Vn V
Figure 2. Schematic diagram of the voltage on C1.

Vn, Vn+1 are the nth and n+1th voltage on C1 after charging, ∆Vn is the voltage on
the C1 after nth discharging. Vs, ∆V are the stabilized values of voltage on C1
after charging and discharging.
Figure 4. Schematic diagram for n-stage TLT.
Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of the voltage on C1.
For the stabilized states of the low voltage part of the According to [6], the output voltage Vo of the TLT
generator, K. Yan had done the similar derivation in [8].  But
the difference is that the negative voltage ∆Vn at C1 is not (2Vi  VT )  Z L
Vo  (4)
converted to -∆Vn by another resonant charge circuit in our Z0  ZT  Z L
generator. So the stabilized values can be got:
4Vi  ZS  Q
where VT 
C  N 2 CH (B+1)  Z0
Vs  1 V0
CL (2) 2ZS  Q
ZT  (5)
C  N CH 2 B+1
V  1 2 V0 B-1 2n-2
N CH (3) 1-( )
B+1 Z
Where V0 is the voltage on C, and N is the transformation Q= B= 1+4  S (6)
B-1 2n-1 Z0
ratio. 1+( )
B+1
During the pulse formation process, the spark switch and
the TLT play an important role in the performance of the and n, Z0, ZS, and ZL is the number of the TLT stage, the cable
generator. Some critical parameters such as rise time, characteristic impedance, the secondary mode and the load
repetition rate, life time and efficiency are determined by the impedance, respectively.
properties of switch and TLT. From equation (4), it is follows that when the TLT is
connected to an ideal matched load impedance, ZL=nZ0 and
2.2 THE SPARK GAP SWITCH ZS>>Z0, the output voltage is n times of input voltage, i.e.
The switch is an important section which connects the high Vo=nVi.
voltage capacitor to the input end of the TLT. A triggered According to the above when the TLT is connected to a
spark gap switch is used and triggered by a LCR trigger matched load, the voltage gain (the output voltage divided by
circuit, this type of switch has been developed in order to the input voltage) depends on the ZS. In order to obtain a
produce high levels of pulsed corona plasma at high-repetition larger ZS, the same magnetic cores are placed around the
rate and with a long lifetime by Yan [8] and Winands [9]. coaxial cables of the TLT in this work.
1196 C. Jiang et al.: A Compact Repetitive Nanosecond Pulsed Power Generator Based on Transmission Line Transformer

But for a typical TLT, the magnetic field caused by the
secondary mode current (the current across the secondary mode
impedance ZS) may reach 0.5-5 kA/m within a few tens of
nanoseconds, which can bring magnetic cores into saturation
easily [8]. As a result, the saturation of the magnetic material
must be avoided. According to [7] equation (7) must be met:
BS >BS0 ,
0 r VP
where BS0 
 m ZS
where BS is the saturation flux density of the magnetic
material,  m is the mean length of the magnetic path of the
magnetic core, and VP is the voltage over the secondary mode
impedance ZS. Equation (7) can provide the basis for choosing
the material of the magnetic core.
Two neighboring cables of the TLT was chosen in [7] to
demonstrate the effects of the magnetic core on the secondary
mode impedance ZS. Figure 5 shows the two-cable model of
the TLT with magnetic cores.
Figure 5. Schematic diagram of two parallel coaxial cables covered with
magnetic material. D is the distance between the magnetic cores, D0 is the
diameter of the outer conductor of the coaxial cables of the TLT, D1 and D2
are the inner and outer diameters of the magnetic core respectively.
When only one coaxial cable is covered with magnetic
cores, the secondary mode impedance between the two cables
can be written as [7]:
2D+D 1 D 2( D+D ) - D 2D+D
(8)
Z1S=120 { l n 0
+ ( r - 1) [ l n 2 +l n 0 1
] }l n
trigger circuit, a transmission line transformer, and magnetic
cores placed around the TLT cables, as shown in Figure 1.
The third cable is connected to ground, so the magnetic cores are
placed around the first and second one only. The magnetic material
is NiZn R250p with permeability r of 250. The values of D, D0,
D1 and D2 are chosen as 150, 10, 28 and 48 mm, respectively.
(7) According to equations (7), (8) and (9), calculated values of the
secondary mode impedance and BS0 are shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Calculated values of the Z1S, Z2S and BS0.
Parameter Line 2 Line 3
Z1S 1.98 kΩ 2.11 kΩ
Z2S 4 kΩ 4 kΩ
BS0 42 mT
The Z0 of the cable (SYV50-10) and BS of the magnetic
core are 50 Ω and 390 mT respectively. It is obvious that ZS is
much larger than Z0 and BS is much larger than BS0.
According to [8,11], to avoid multiple reflections of high
voltage pulses inside the core, the transient time inside the core
must be at least longer than 50% of the pulse duration △T.
The magnetic material length h should be designed
according to the following relation [8]:
1 c  T
h  (10)
2 r   r
where r ,  r and c are the effective permeability and
dielectric constant of the magnetic core and light velocity in
vacuum respectively.
According to the equation (10), in the case of this TLT,
pulse duration △T is 100 ns, r is 250,  r is 1, the minimum
length of the magnetic material can be calculated as 0.9 m.
The total inductance of the circuit from the high voltage
capacitor to the TLT can decrease the input pulse voltage of
the TLT drastically. Therefore, a compact structure presented
in figure 6 is employed to reduce total inductance. The spark
gap switch, the high voltage capacitor and the input side of the
TLT are enclosed into this compact structure.
0

D0 2 D1 2( D+D0 ) - D2 D0

① ② ③ ⑥ ⑦ ⑨
When both coaxial cables are covered with magnetic core,
the secondary mode impedance between the two cables can be
written as:
2D+D0 D2 2(D+D)- D1 2D+D0 (9)
Z2S=120 { l n +( r -1)[ l n
0
+l n ] }l n
D0 D1 2(D+D)-
0
D2 D0

Therefore, it is found that ZS mainly depends on the ④

physical size and material of the magnetic core. A lager Zs can
be obtained provided the ratio of D2/D1 is high enough or the
 r is large.
⑤
⑧
2.4 CONSTRUCTIONS OF THE TLT ①H-V capacitor；②anode；③cathode；④trigger；⑤metal cylinder；⑥
、⑧aluminum link；⑦epoxy board；⑨cable joint.
Generally, the two-stage TLT is the most efficient, but here Figure 6. Schematic diagram of the compact design.
a three-stage TLT is applied, in order to get an enough voltage
gain in the present system.
The circuit before the input side of TLT mainly consists of 4 EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
secondary windings of the pulse transformer, two high voltage Figure 7 shows voltage waveforms of CH at a pulse repetition
diodes D1 and D2, an air coil inductor L, a high voltage energy rate of 500 Hz. Figure 8 shows the typical voltage waveforms
storage capacitor CH, a triggered spark gap switch S, a LCR on the CH and trigger electrode. After the charging of CH, the
IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Vol. 18, No. 4; August 2011 1197

voltage on the trigger electrode decreases exponentially with

time constant  LCR which determined by trigger circuit. As a Output
result, the voltage difference between the anode and the trigger terminal
electrode increases exponentially until the trigger gap breaks
down. Therefore, the time delay between the end of charging of
CH and breakdown of the main gap is determined by the  LCR .
Spark gap
Figure 9 presents the waveform comparison of the input and switch
output voltages of TLT when a matched non-inductive resistive
load of 150 Ω is used. The output pulse has peak voltage of 30
kV, pulse width of 100 ns and rise time of 25 ns. The voltage TLT
gain is about 2.5. The possible reasons for this are the energy
loss of the TLT system and the insufficient secondary mode

50 cm
impedance [10]. The fluctuation still exists in the input voltage
of the TLT, therefore, the total inductor needs to reduce further.
Magnetic
14
cores
12

10
Figure 10. Photo of the compact design.
Voltage(kV)

4 5 CONCLUSION
2 A compact and reliable high voltage pulse generator based
0 on spark gap switch and transmission line transformer has
-2 been developed. The results of experimental tests show that
-7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1
Time(ms)
repetitive pulses with maximum voltage of 30 kV, rise time of
25 ns, pulse duration of 100 ns, and repetitive rate of 500 Hz
Figure 7.The typical voltage waveforms on capacitor CH at a pulse repetition can be obtained.
rate of 500 Hz.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
14

CH
This work was supported by the Chinese National Nature
12
Science Foundation under Grant 50777027. The author would
10
like to express great thanks to Dr. Zhen Liu from Department
Voltage ( kV)

8 trigger
of Electrical Engineering, Eindhoven University of
6 Technology, for his helpful discussion.
4

2
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0
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Chunyang Jiang was born in Heilongjiang, China, on
6 January 1985. He received the B.Sc. degree in
electrical and electronic engineering from Dalian
University of Technology (DLUT), Liaoning, China, in
2008. He is currently working toward the M.S. degree
in electrical and electronic engineering in Huazhong
University of Science and Technology (HUST), Hubei,
China. His research interests include the pulsed power
and plasma technology and applications.
Shengguo Xia was born in Hubei, China, in 1968. He
received the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical
engineering from the Huazhong University of Science
and Technology (HUST), Wuhan, China, in 2000 and
2004, respectively. He is currently an Associate
Professor with the College of Electrical and Electronic
Engineering, HUST. His main research interests include
high voltage engineering, gas discharge physics, pulsed
power sources, and non-thermal plasmas.