A Novel Crowbar Impulse Current Circuit for Testing the Switch-Type SPD

A crowbar impulse current circuit for testing the switch-type surge protective device （SPD） is presented. The crowbar circuit consists of a computer control circuit, a trigger voltage pulse generator, a main discharging switch, and a crowbar pseudospark switch. The active trigger technology was studied in the crowbar impulse current circuit. The circuit monitors the main discharging current and generates a trigger signal at a proper time for the crowbar pseudospark switch operation. The trigger characteristics of the main discharge switch and the crowbar pseu- dospark switch were investigated. By monitoring the preset applied capacitor voltage, the gap distance of the main discharging switch could be adjusted to ensure a discharging delay time less than 2 μs. Equipped with a surface ttashover trigger device made of high relative perimittivity dielectric material BaTiO3 （εr = 3460）, the discharge delay time of the crowbar pseudospark switch is less than 85 ns, and the minimum operating voltage is less than 1% of its self-breakdown voltage. With a storage capacitor of 9 μF , an inductor of 18 μH and a crowbar pseudospark switch, a load of 30 mΩ and an applied capacitor voltage of 40 kV, an impulse current waveform of maximum 25 kA was generated with a rise time and time to half peak value of 17.2 μs and 336μs respectively.

Research and design of the protection circuits in LD controller

According to the parameters and applications of laser diode （LD）, three protection circuits were designed： the time-delay soft-start protection circuit, the power-on impulse protection circuit and the limit-current protection circuit. In this article, the structure and the principle of every protection circuit have been detailed. From several tests and feedbacks from customers, the expected goals have been completed.