Diode Reverse Recovery Process and Reduction of a Half-Wave Series Cockcroft–Walton Voltage Multiplier for High-Frequency High-Voltage Generator Applications

This paper investigates the diode reverse recovery process and reduction of a half-wave (HW) series Cockcroft-Walton (CW) voltage multiplier based on the steady-state analysis for high-frequency high-voltage (HV) generator applications. The diode reverse recovery process for a multistage voltage multiplier is analyzed after the introduction of steady-state operation. The diode reverse recovery problem is the bottleneck to further increase the circuit operation switching frequency for achieving high power density and short HV pulse rise and decay times. The diode reverse recovery problem is mainly caused by the diodes in the first-stage voltage multiplier. It is suggested that the most effective and economic way to alleviate the diode reverse recovery problem is by employing diodes without reverse recovery such as silicon carbide Schottky diodes in the first stage only. The silicon carbide Schottky diode without reverse recovery needs to be used only in the first stage of the voltage multiplier to effectively mitigate the reverse recovery problems at high frequency. The 300 kHz switching frequency three-stage voltage multiplier circuit hardware prototype experimental results finally validate the analysis. A technology demonstrator of a 300 kHz 8 kW 160 kV HV generator based on the proposed hybrid silicon carbide and silicon diode solution for the HW series CW voltage multiplier is provided finally.