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U.S. Department of Energy
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High current transistor pulse generator

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6100346

A solid state pulse generator capable of delivering high current trapezoidally shaped pulses into an inductive load has been developed at SLAC. Energy stored in the capacitor bank of the pulse generator is switched to the load through a pair of Darlington transistors. A combination of diodes and Darlington transistors is used to obtain trapezoidal or triangular shaped current pulses into an inductive load and to recover the remaining energy in the same capacitor bank without reversing capacitor voltage. The transistors work in the switch mode, and the power losses are low. The rack mounted pulse generators presently used at SLAC contain a 660 microfarad storage capacitor bank and can deliver 400 amps at 800 volts into inductive loads up to 3 mH. The pulse generators are used in several different power systems, including pulse to pulse bipolar power supplies and in application with current pulses distributed into different inductive loads. The current amplitude and discharge time are controlled by the central computer system through a specially developed multichannel controller. Several years of operation with the pulse generators have proven their consistent performance and reliability. 8 figs.

Research Organization:
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
AC03-76SF00515
OSTI ID:
6100346
Report Number(s):
SLAC-PUB-5698; CONF-911106--31; ON: DE92004774
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English