Stacked Blumlein pulse generators

Extensive characterization of stacked Blumlein pulsers has been performed over the past few years. Results indicate that these devices are capable of producing high-power waveforms with risetimes and repetition rates in the range of 0.2-50 ns and 1-300 Hz, respectively, using a conventional thyratron, spark gap or photoconductive switch. This paper reviews the progress made to date in the development of these novel pulsers. It is shown that, with slight design modifications, they can produce pulsed power waveforms with fast risetimes and a wide range of pulse durations and peak values. An analysis of the behavior of the stacked Blumlein pulsers is given and the results of performance tests are discussed.