Solid-state switch modulator deck for the MIT-Bates S band transmitter

This paper describes the modifications to the klystron pulse modulators used in the Bates Linear electron accelerator, in which a highly complex and rapidly obsolescing high-voltage pulse modulator for the modulating anodes of Litton Beam Switch Tubes has been supplanted by a 20 kV, 100 A IGBT solid-state electronic switch in series with the BST cathodes, with a precision DC power supply connected to the modulating anodes. The result is a simpler, smaller and more reliable system.