Magnetic switches and circuits

Saturable inductors as switches in lumped element, magnetic pulse compression circuits is discussed and the characteristic use of each is defined. The geometric constraints and magnetic pulse compression circuits used in short pulse, low inductance systems are considered. The scaling of presaturation leakage currents, magnetic energy losses, and switching times with geometrical and material parameters are developed to aid in evaluating magnetic pulse compression systems in a particular application. A scheme for increasing the couping coefficient in saturable stripline transformers is proposed to enable their use in the short pulse, high voltage regime.