Nanosecond Pulse Generator Based on Inductive Energy Storage Forming Line With Impedance Matching Modulation Capability

Nanosecond pulse electric field (ns-PFE) can target the organelles in cells, which can induce tumor cell apoptosis. This interesting electrophysiological effect implies that it is possible to inhibit tumor recurrence and metastasis. Due to the anisotropy of biological tissue, higher requirements are put forward for the output impedance regulation ability and waveform of pulse generator, such as shorter and adjustable pulse width, voltage amplitude over 10 kV. Pulse forming line (PFL) is one of the effective ways to generate nanosecond pulse. The electrical parameters and geometric dimensions of the dielectric in the PFL are fixed, which causes its output impedance and pulse width to be constant. Therefore, a new type multiswitch inductive PFL (MS-IPFL) topology is proposed in this article to solve the problems. Double switches are used to control the transmission process of electromagnetic wave in transmission line, which can realize the flexible regulation of pulse width and output impedance. In addition, an interesting fact is that it can achieve modular pulse superposition through transmission line time isolation method to generate high voltage output. Finally, 10-stage-modules stacker with voltage amplitude of 10 kV was successfully developed. The pulse width can be flexible adjusted in 10–20 ns and repetition frequency can reach 200 kHz in burst mode.