Sheng Liu’s research while affiliated with Northwest Institute Of Textile Science And Technology and other places

The Tesla-type pulsed power generator based on transformer oil is limited by volume and weight, which affects its suitability for mobile platforms. In this paper, a double-width pulse forming line (PFL) based on high-energy-density liquid medium Midel 7131 was designed, and a compact, high-repetitive pulsed power generator was developed. The structural and electrical parameters of the PFL with an outer diameter of 1000 mm were optimized to achieve the highest output power with a fixed load impedance of 60 Ω. This generator employed a double-width forming line, which has an output pulse width of four times of the electrical length of its external line, significantly increasing the output pulse width and making the system more compact. The generator could be finally enveloped with a size of 4 × 1.5 × 1.5 m³ and a weight of 4.7 tons. The experiment showed that the generator could operate reliably under the conditions of 15-GW peak power, 50-ns pulse width, 50-Hz repetition rate, and <1% voltage jitter. The X-band relatively backward wave oscillator driven by this generator yielded a favorable microwave, which demonstrated the high-power driving capability of the generator.

Comparative measurements with high-pressure spark gaps (gas pressure: 0.2–0.9 MPa nitrogen, gap spacing 5 mm) are presented, one with a regular Bruce-profile polished graphite cathode (diameter 25 mm, thickness 8 mm) and the other with a microarray graphite cathode of equal dimensions. By microstructuring, a V-type graphite microarray is created by purpose-developed laser treatment of a plane graphite electrode. The microarray graphite cathode brings more initial plasma and then produces more initial electrons. It is beneficial for electron emission, which improves the stability of the switch breakdown. The experimental results are achieved at a gas pressure of 0.9 MPa and a 200-kV voltage pulse applied to the switch. With these parameters, the mean breakdown voltage is 91.7 kV, the minimum is 91.4 kV, and the mean relative standard deviation in breakdown voltage of the first 100 shots is 0.4%. Compared to a plane graphite cathode, the mean breakdown voltage is about 10% lower, and the mean relative standard deviation is reduced by more than 90%. The main result can be stated that microarray graphite cathodes are a suitable choice as electrodes for low-jitter high-pressure spark gaps.

Graphene has attracted great interest for its distinctive band structure and physical properties. Results from previous studies show that a graphene cathode can provide stable field emission and intense emission in a vacuum. In this paper, a graphene cathode was fabricated using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on copper electrodes, and the breakdown of the cathode in a high-pressure gas was studied. A low-jitter, self-breakdown gas spark switch based on a graphene cathode is proposed in this paper. The impulse-breakdown characteristics of this switch in a quasi-uniform electric field were studied. When the gap length is 5 mm, and the gas pressure is 0.6 MPa, the average breakdown voltage (U _BD ) is nearly 85.9 kV, and the voltage jitter is only 3.2%; these values are much lower than those for pure copper cathodes and graphite cathodes. The graphene cathode is found to be a suitable choice for use as a high-power gas switch in applications requiring an intense emission source.

Transmission line pulse transformers have been widely used in pulsed power technology. Traditional transmission line pulse transformers often use separate structures, which always introduces larger spurious parameters, and have lower voltage levels. In order to solve these problems, this note proposes a coaxial transmission line pulse transformer. A circular symmetric structure is used in the input and output ports of the coaxial transmission line pulse transformer, and there are no spurious parameters theoretically. Furthermore, this structure is suitable for hundreds of kilovolts high voltage applications. The structure and working principle of the coaxial transmission line pulse transformer are introduced in this note, and the circuit simulation research is conducted. The factors that affect the pulse transformation are analyzed. Furthermore, experimental studies of the square wave impulse response are conducted on an actual device. The result shows that the proposed coaxial transmission line pulse transformer can achieve the purpose of increasing the voltage amplitude while keeping the pulse waveform undistorted.

To produce pulses with good flat-top quality, pulse-forming lines (PFLs) have been widely used in the field of Tesla-type pulse generators. To shorten the physical length of the PFL, a double-width PFL (DWPFL) is proposed that doubles the output pulse width while maintaining flat-top quality. A repetitively 10 GW Tesla-type long-pulse generator producing pulses with flat-top width of about 110 ns was developed with a coaxial DWPFL to produce high-current electron beams. Electron beams of about 10 GW with flat-top widths of about 110 ns were obtained on a planar vacuum diode load. With this pulse generator and a C-band high-power microwave system, microwaves of ~2.2 GW power and full-width at half-maximum of 101 ns were generated. The experiment demonstrates the feasibility and ideal output waveform quality of the DWPFL.

A 10-GW high-energy-density Tesla-type pulse generator is developed with an improved insulating liquid based on a modified Tesla pulser—TPG700, of which the pulse forming line (PFL) is filled with novel insulating oil instead of transformer oil. Properties of insulating oil determining the stored energy density of the PFL are analyzed, and a criterion for appropriate oil is proposed. Midel 7131 is chosen as an application example. The results of insulating property experiment under tens-of-microsecond pulse charging demonstrate that the insulation capability of Midel 7131 is better than that of KI45X transformer oil. The application test in Tesla pulser TPG700 shows that the output power is increased to 10.5 GW with Midel 7131. The output energy density of TPG700 increases for about 60% with Midel 7131.