Gao, PengFletcher, JohnO'Byrne, Sean2025-06-112025-06-119781479927050ORCID:/0009-0007-2076-6766/work/162948452http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84906695223&partnerID=8YFLogxKhttps://hdl.handle.net/1885/733758532Plasma-assisted ignition technology has been proposed to boost the combustion efficiency of scramjets during high speed flight. One technique utilizes high-voltage nanosecond-duration pulses, which can generate free radicals thereby initiating ignition earlier in the combustion chamber and improving fuel efficiency. A high-voltage nanosecond pulse generator is an integral part of the system. In this paper, a modular nanosecond pulse generation system, utilizing multiple high-speed, high-voltage MOSFETs, is developed and tested. The modular system can generate width-adjustable pulses (from 20 ns to 50 ns) with fast rise time <6 ns), fast fall time < 6 ns) and variable amplitude using multiple switch cells. Employing the inductive voltage adder, the system is configured in two different ways: two switch cells coupled in parallel and two switch cells coupled in series. The parallel-coupled two-switch configuration increases the peak current capability of the system for a given MOSFET current rating. The increased distributed capacitance is a dominant factor, which leads to mismatch of the drain-tosource voltage at turn-off and increases the output pulse width. The series-coupled two switch configuration doubles the peak voltage of the output pulse. However, the increased leakage inductance is a major contributor to increased rise and fall time of the output pulse and this is demonstrated experimentally.6eninductive voltage addernanosecond pulse generationpulse transformer201410.1109/IPEC.2014.687009884906695223