Ultrashort Rise Time Pulses for Air Purification using a Solid-state Impedance-matched Marx Generator with Planar Waveguides

In this work a new planar waveguide concept is proposed based on the topology of the solid-state Impedance- matched Marx Generator, using only printed circuit boards as structural components. The topology is designed to gener- ate repetitive high-voltage pulses with ultrashort rise time for the application of large scale efficient air purification. Placing planar waveguides on printed circuit boards results in a high accuracy and low-cost design to achieve the shortest possible rise time out of a Marx generator topology using solid-state power components. Switches based on gallium-nitride are selected to provide substantially shorter Marx stage rise times. A four stage prototype of the topology is developed to verify its operation and to provide measurement data on the ultrafast solid-state Marx system compared to performed 3D electromagnetic simulations. Measurement results on the prototype show rectangular 150 ns pulses above 1.0 kV with rise times below 2.0 ns. The topology can be used on its own or be part of a more complex structure for larger system powers, as the coaxial output is designed for 50 Ω impedance.