Generation of High-Voltage Pulses with a Picosecond Front in a Cascade Kivotron Connection

Abstract

The possibility of the operation of high-current high-voltage switches based on “open” discharge with the generation of counter-propagating electron beams, that is, kivotrons, in a two-stage pulse compression scheme is demonstrated experimentally. The total degree of the initial-pulse compression, which exceeded 600 at a minimum measured front duration of a generated pulse of at most 100 ps, was achieved at a voltage of up to 18 kV and a pulse-repetition rate of 1 kHz.