Patent ID: 8693224

Claim:
An apparatus comprising a first terminal, a second terminal, and a first cascade multiplier coupled between said first and second terminals, said first cascade multiplier comprising a first set of switching elements, a phase pump, a circuit for providing an electric potential, a first capacitor network, and a second capacitor network, wherein said first set of switching elements comprises a string of switching elements connected in series between said first terminal and said second terminal, wherein said phase pump has first and second states of operation for providing a first time-varying electric potential, wherein said first capacitor network is coupled between said phase pump and said first set of switching elements, and wherein said second capacitor network is coupled between said circuit and said first set of switching elements, wherein at least one network of capacitors selected from the group consisting of said first capacitor network and said second capacitor network comprises a set of capacitors, each capacitor having a first terminal and a second terminal, said first terminals being DC coupled with corresponding ones of selected nodes between pairs of switching elements in said string of switching elements, wherein, if said network of capacitors is selected to be said first capacitor network, said set of capacitors comprises first and second capacitors, second terminals of which are DC coupled with said phase pump at a node, and a third capacitor coupled with said phase pump through said first capacitor, and wherein, if said network of capacitors is selected to be said second capacitor network, said set of capacitors comprises first and second capacitors, second terminals of which are DC coupled with said circuit at a node, and a third capacitor coupled with said circuit through said first capacitor, said apparatus further comprising a controller configured for synchronizing said phase pump with transitions of selected switching elements from said first set of switching elements between said first and second states to cause a voltage at said first terminal to be a multiple of a voltage at said second terminal.