Pulsed power switching using saturable core inductors

The problems involved in switching fast, high power pulses using single turn saturable core inductors constructed of Metglas 2605SC were investigated. These include hold-off voltages and times, output pulse risetimes, B-H curves of the material under fast pulse conditions, and propagation of the saturation field through the core. Experiments were done on the RAMSES I accelerator which uses a 200 kV Marx generator to provide a 200 ns pulse to a 1 omega coaxial water transmission line.