Applications
One application is so-called boxcar switching of a Pockels cell. Four Marx generators are used, each of the two electrodes of the Pockels cell being connected to a positive pulse generator and a negative pulse generator. Two generators of opposite polarity, one on each electrode, are first fired to charge the Pockels cell into one polarity. This will also partly charge the other two generators but not trigger them, because they have been only partly charged beforehand. Leakage through the Marx resistors needs to be compensated by a small bias current through the generator. At the trailing edge of the boxcar, the two other generators are fired to "reverse" the cell.
Marx generators are used to provide high-voltage pulses for the testing of insulation of electrical apparatus such as large power transformers, or insulators used for supporting power transmission lines. Voltages applied may exceed 2 million volts for high-voltage apparatus.
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