Solid-State Linear Transformer Driver for Nanosecond Pulsed Discharge Plasma

All-solid-state pulsed power generators (SSPPGs) have been utilized to study and generate pulsed discharge plasma. SSPPGs can generate repetitive high-voltage pulses with quite fast-rising edges and high flexibility, promoting experimental research of plasma applications. Solid-state linear transformer driver (LTD) can meet the above requirements. An eight-stage prototype solid-state LTD was designed and measured. It can generate ~8-kV pulses with ~10-ns rise time (10%–90%), and the shape of the output waveforms can be flexibly changed. The existence of the core increases the complexity of efficiency analysis on multistage LTD to simplify this process, and this article proposes an efficiency analysis method suitable for different operation conditions. Since pulsed discharge plasma is a kind of capacitive load for LTD, a study of LTD stack over capacitive load is essential before its utilization. The relevant theoretical derivation and simulation were carried out, and the influence of component parameters on load waveforms was explored. Finally, the LTD stack was experimented with for driving a typical parallel plate dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) under the repetition rate of 100–3000 Hz, obtaining a good result of plasma generation.