A 500 kV rep-rate Marx generator

The construction of an efficient PFN/Marx generator for generating high average power electron beams is described. The generator is shown to consist of ten 100 kV PFN stages connected in a Marx configuration, while the Marx generator employs purged gas switches. Attention is given to the nominal operating parameters which are a voltage of 500 kV, a current of 10 kA, a pulse duration of 1 microsec, and rep-rate of up to 100 Hz, and an average power of up to 500 kW. Finally, the Marx charging power conditioning and the operation of the generator into resistive and electron beam loads, is discussed.