Nanosecond rise time air-core current transformer for long-pulse current measurement in pulsed power

A slow-wave delay line type air-core (nonmagnetic Nylon former) current transformer fabricated using silver epoxy for the measurement of currents of long pulse durations and few nanoseconds rise times is reported in this article. The advantage of using silver epoxy is that it fills all the voids between coil and shield and enhances the proximity of the coil to the shield, leading to a high value of distributed capacitance. Thus the transit time of the coil increases and it can measure fast current pulses of longer durations. Increasing the inductance of the coil can compensate for the resulting reduction in the sensitivity of the coil for matched termination. An easy experimental technique to find the value of the matched terminating resistor is also reported in this article. We have also done simulations of the slow wave current transformer using PSPICE. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics.