High-Performance Pulsed-Power Generator Controlled by FPGA

The high reliability, high repetition rate, high performance, and compactness of pulsed-power generators are required for industrial applications. Also, the control of a pulsed-power generator becomes more complicated with increasing functions. An all-solid-state pulsed-power generator can be controlled by using a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). The pulsed-power generator consists of a charger, a magnetic pulse compression circuit, and a controller using the FPGA. The performance characteristics of the pulsed-power generator, such as the variable firing interval from shot to shot and the diagnosis of incorrect operation, are easily achieved by rewriting the programming of the Verilog hardware description language on the FPGA.