Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 May 2015
In this paper, a solid helical pulse-forming line (HPFL) is described. The electromagnetic (EM) dispersion theory is used to calculate the important parameters of the HPFL based on tape helix model. Dispersion effects on the important EM parameters of HPFL, such as electric length and characteristic impedances, are analyzed. When Al2O3 ceramic is applied to be the dielectric in the HPFL, the pulse width of the HPFL is calculated nearly 50 ns only with the length of 305 mm. EM field simulation can draw the dispersion curve of the HPFL directly, which can describe the dispersion effect on the electric length of HPFL. Furthermore, the EM field simulation and experiments are carried out to verify the theoretical calculations of the pulse wide and characteristic impedances. Both simulation and experimental results can prove the EM analyses and calculations in this paper.