A novel drive circuit with overcurrent protection for solid state pulse generators

In recent years, semiconductor switches have been widely used in pulse generators. In order to generate bipolar or rectangular pulses, switches in these generators operate in different time sequences. However, the dv/dt induces false triggering of the semiconductor switches that leads to local short circuits. Breakdown of the load will also produce a high short-circuit current which will affect the switches' reliability and lifetime. In this paper, a new gate drive circuit is proposed to protect switches from short-circuit currents. A 52-stage solid state Marx generator using the proposed drive circuit was tested to verify the overcurrent protection. The experimental results show that the short-circuit current is limited within a safe range and the output voltage increased significantly.