All-solid-state bipolar pulsed generator based on linear transformer driver and push–pull circuit

All-solid-state linear transformer drivers (LTDs) are widely used in high-voltage repetitive nanosecond-pulsed generators, and only a few LTD generators can output bipolar rectangular waves currently. Furthermore, owing to the large reverse overshoot when the output pulse width is long, fewer LTD generators can achieve a rectangular wave output with a microsecond pulse width. In this study, a bipolar LTD circuit topology based on a push–pull circuit is proposed for irreversible electroporation. In this topology, a single-stage LTD module has four push–pull branches in its primary winding to achieve a bipolar output and a short-circuited winding with two resistor–capacitor–diode snubbers to suppress forward/reverse overshoot. A single-stage LTD module and a 12-stage LTD have been tested, and the results show that they can output bipolar rectangular pulses with variable parameters. When the output pulse width is 100 ns to 1 µs, the maximum output voltage amplitude is 5.74 kV, the rise time is 29.1 ns, and the reverse overshoot at 1 µs is 2.9%. When the output pulse width is 1–8 µs, the maximum output voltage amplitude is 2.93 kV, the rise time is 24.3 ns, and the reverse overshoot at 8 µs is 11.3%.