A solid state Marx type modulator for driving a TWT

This paper describes a solid state Marx type modulator design delivering an 11 kilovolt, 2-4 /spl mu/sec pulse to the cathode of an X-band driver TWT. Insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) are used as on/off switches to operate the Marx circuit in the energy storage capacitor partial discharge mode. With the aid of a passive compensation circuit, a very flat TWT cathode driver pulse is obtained. The 2 /spl mu/sec, 11 kV pulse amplitude is flat to 0.06%.