Micro-processor based modular power supply of high voltage rectangular pulses with rising/falling time in the nano-scale range

Summary

Numerous applications (e.g. DBD-based plasma processing, dielectric material testing etc) in research laboratories or industry ask for power supplies of high voltage pulses. Although setups like resonance circuits have been employed for the generation of such pulses, their form remains often arbitrary in terms of amplitude and temporal characteristics (tolerant peak voltage and rising/falling times, jittering, random oscillations on the waveform etc). On the other hand, commercial solid state power supplies providing well-defined pulses of high voltage, do exist. However, they have often inherent downfalls like low adaptability to diverse applications, low cost efficiency, design that does not support scalability etc. Thus, the present work is devoted to the design and implementation of a low cost, modular, and reliable pulsed high voltage converter (DC chopper). The distinct characteristics achieved with the present prototype refer to: adjustable amplitude up to 7 kV, voltage amplitude accuracy better than 1%, adjustable pulse frequency between 1 kHz and 5 kHz, adjustable duty cycle between 1% and 20%, rising/falling time ~70 ns, and jitter less than 1 ns. The power supply has been successfully tested on atmospheric-pressure plasma reactor based on dielectric-barrier discharge.

Additional informations

Keywords

Pulsed High Voltage Supply; MOSFETs; micro-processor; DBDs;