A Matrix-Like Topology for High-Voltage Generation

A new topology for high-voltage (HV) generation is proposed. While conventional voltage multipliers typically consist of a repetitive string of multiplying cells connected in cascade, we organize the multiplying cells in a multisection matrix topology. Thus, the voltage is boosted by voltage multiplication and also by transformer-like action resulting from the matrix configuration. Thanks to the topology variation (while maintaining the component count), the generated HV can be boosted by a factor of 2-4 and the ripple is reduced drastically. For example, under heavy load, we show an increase of the load voltage from 2.15 to 9.06 kV by reconfiguring a 12 link multiplier into a 4 × 3 matrix. This reconfiguration also resulted in a voltage ripple decrease from 755 to 43 V.