A compact nested high voltage generator for medium pulse duration applications

The ¿nested high voltage generator¿ (NHVG) topology is an effective way of producing and grading high DC voltages. It has been applied to a variety of technical problems including semiconductor ion implantation, X-ray security, and electron beam irradiation. We have built a unit for pulsed power applications including such applications as pulsed X-ray generation, pulsed plastics' processing, medium power microwaves, and pulsed ion beam annealing. This unit is designed to produce 250 kV and up to 5 amperes for pulses of up to several milliseconds. Previous pulsed versions of the NHVG used ¿hard tube¿ power systems, but this unit uses series resonant solid state drive. Repetition rates will vary for this machine from 1 pps to 1 kHz depending on the applied pulse format. We will report on performance and procpects for higher power operation.