Content

1. Operetion
i) Resonant transformer
ii) Operation cycle
iii) Oscillation frequency
iv) Output voltage
v) The top load or "toroid" electrode
2. Types
3. History
4. Modern day Tesla Coil
i) Primary switching

5. Practicaignl aspects of design

i) High voltage production
a) Tuning
b) Air discharges

6. Application
7. Health hazards
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Tesla coil
Tesla coil

Tesla coil at Questacon – the National Science

and Technology center in Canberra, Australia

Uses Application in educational

demonstrations, novelty lighting,
music

Inventor Nikola Tesla

Related Transformer, electromagnetic field,

items resonance

A Tesla coil is an electrical resonant transformer circuit

designed by inventor Nikola Tesla in 1891. It is used to produce
high-voltage, low-current, high frequency alternating-current
electricity. Tesla experimented with a number of different
configurations consisting of two, or sometimes three, coupled
resonant electric circuits.
Tesla used these circuits to conduct innovative experiments in
electrical lighting, phosphorescence, X-ray generation, high
frequency alternating current phenomena, electrotherapy, and the
transmission of electrical energy without wires. Tesla coil
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circuits were used commercially in sparkgap radio transmitters
for wireless telegraphy until the 1920s, and in medical
equipment such as electrotherapy and violet ray devices. Today,
their main use is for entertainment and educational displays,
although small coils are still used as leak detectors for high
vacuum systems.

1. Operation

Homemade Tesla coil in operation, showing brush discharges

from the toroid. The high electric field causes the air around the
high voltage terminal to ionize and conduct electricity, allowing
electricity to leak into the air in colorful corona discharges, brush
discharges and streamer arcs. Tesla coils are used for
entertainment at science museums and public events, and for
special effects in movies and television.
A Tesla coil is a radio frequency oscillator that drives an air-core
double-tuned resonant transformer to produce high voltages at
low currents. Tesla's original circuits as well as most modern
coils use a simple spark gap to excite oscillations in the tuned
transformer. More sophisticated designs use transistor or
thyristor switches or vacuum tube electronic oscillators to drive
the resonant transformer.

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Tesla coils can produce output voltages from 50 kilovolts to
several million volts for large coils. The alternating current
output is in the low radio frequency range, usually between
50 kHz and 1 MHz. Although some oscillator-driven coils
generate a continuous alternating current, most Tesla coils have a
pulsed output; the high voltage consists of a rapid string of
pulses of radio frequency alternating current.
The common spark-excited Tesla coil circuit, shown below,
consists of these components:
 A high voltage supply transformer (T), to step the AC mains
voltage up to a high enough voltage to jump the spark gap.
Typical voltages are between 5 and 30 kilovolts (kV).
 A capacitor (C1) that forms a tuned circuit with the primary
winding L1 of the Tesla transformer
 A spark gap (SG) that acts as a switch in the primary circuit
 The Tesla coil (L1, L2), an air-core double-tuned resonant
transformer, which generates the high output voltage.
 Optionally, a capacitive electrode (top load) (E) in the form
of a smooth metal sphere or torus attached to the secondary
terminal of the coil. Its large surface area suppresses
premature air breakdown and arc discharges, increasing the
Q factor and output voltage.
Resonant transformer
Further information: Resonant inductive coupling
Further information: Transformer types § Resonant transformer

Page 4 of 38
Unipolar Tesla coil circuit. C2 is not an actual capacitor but
represents the parasitic capacitance of the secondary windings
L2, plus the capacitance to ground of the toroid electrode E.

A more detailed equivalent circuit of the secondary showing the

contributions of various stray capacitances.
The specialized transformer used in the Tesla coil circuit, called
a resonant transformer, oscillation transformer or radio-
frequency (RF) transformer, functions differently from an
ordinary transformer used in AC power circuits. While an
ordinary transformer is designed to transfer energy efficiently
from primary to secondary winding, the resonant transformer is
also designed to temporarily store electrical energy. Each
winding has a capacitance across it and functions as an LC
circuit (resonant circuit, tuned circuit), storing oscillating
electrical energy, analogously to a tuning fork. The primary coil
(L1) consisting of a relatively few turns of heavy copper wire or
tubing, is connected to a capacitor (C1) through the spark gap
(SG). The secondary coil (L2) consists of many turns (hundreds
to thousands) of fine wire on a hollow cylindrical form inside the
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primary. The secondary is not connected to an actual capacitor,
but it also functions as an LC circuit, the inductance of (L2)
resonates with stray capacitance (C2), the sum of the stray
parasitic capacitance between the windings of the coil, and the
capacitance of the toroidal metal electrode attached to the high
voltage terminal. The primary and secondary circuits are tuned
so they resonate at the same frequency, they have the same
resonant frequency. This allows them to exchange energy, so the
oscillating current alternates back and forth between the primary
and secondary coils.
The peculiar design of the coil is dictated by the need to achieve
low resistive energy losses (high Q factor) at high frequencies,
which results in the largest secondary voltages:
 Ordinary power transformers have an iron core to increase
the magnetic coupling between the coils. However at high
frequencies an iron core causes energy losses due to eddy
currents and hysteresis, so it is not used in the Tesla coil.
 Ordinary transformers are designed to be "tightly coupled".
Due to the iron core and close proximity of the windings,
they have a high mutual inductance (M), the coupling
coefficient is close to unity 0.95 - 1.0, which means almost
all the magnetic field of the primary winding passes through
the secondary. The Tesla transformer in contrast is "loosely
coupled", the primary winding is larger in diameter and
spaced apart from the secondary, so the mutual inductance is
lower and the coupling coefficient is only 0.05 to 0.2. This
means that only 5% to 20% of the magnetic field of the
primary coil passes through the secondary when it is open
circuited. The loose coupling slows the exchange of energy
between the primary and secondary coils, which allows the
oscillating energy to stay in the secondary circuit longer
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 before it returns to the primary and begins dissipating in the
spark.
 Each winding is also limited to a single layer of wire, which
reduces proximity effect losses. The primary carries very
high currents. Since high frequency current mostly flows on
the surface of conductors due to skin effect, it is often made
of copper tubing or strip with a large surface area to reduce
resistance, and its turns are spaced apart, which reduces
proximity effect losses and arcing between turns.

Unipolar coil design widely used in modern coils. The primary is

the flat red spiral winding at bottom, the secondary is the vertical
cylindrical coil wound with fine red wire. The high voltage
terminal is the aluminum torus at the top of the secondary coil.

Bipolar coil, used in the early 20th century. There are two high
voltage output terminals, each connected to one end of the
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secondary, with a spark gap between them. The primary is 12
turns of heavy wire, which is located at the midpoint of the
secondary to discourage arcs between the coils.The output circuit
can have two forms:
 Unipolar - One end of the secondary winding is connected
to a single high voltage terminal, the other end is grounded.
This type is used in modern coils designed for
entertainment. The primary winding is located near the
bottom, low potential end of the secondary, to minimize arcs
between the windings. Since the ground (Earth) serves as
the return path for the high voltage, streamer arcs from the
terminal tend to jump to any nearby grounded object.
 Bipolar - Neither end of the secondary winding is grounded,
and both are brought out to high voltage terminals. The
primary winding is located at the center of the secondary
coil, equidistant between the two high potential terminals, to
discourage arcing.
Operation cycle
The circuit operates in a rapid, repeating cycle in which the
supply transformer (T) charges the primary capacitor (C1) up,
which then discharges in a spark through the spark gap, creating
a brief pulse of oscillating current in the primary circuit which
excites a high oscillating voltage across the secondary:
1. Current from the supply transformer (T) charges the
capacitor (C1) to a high voltage.
2. When the voltage across the capacitor reaches the
breakdown voltage of the spark gap (SG) a spark starts,
reducing the spark gap resistance to a very low value. This
completes the primary circuit and current from the capacitor
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 flows through the primary coil (L1). The current flows
rapidly back and forth between the plates of the capacitor
through the coil, generating radio frequency oscillating
current in the primary circuit at the circuit's resonant
frequency.
3. The oscillating magnetic field of the primary winding
induces an oscillating current in the secondary winding (L2),
by Faraday's law of induction. Over a number of cycles, the
energy in the primary circuit is transferred to the secondary.
The total energy in the tuned circuits is limited to the energy
originally stored in the capacitor C1, so as the oscillating
voltage in the secondary increases in amplitude ("ring up")
the oscillations in the primary decrease to zero ("ring
down"). Although the ends of the secondary coil are open, it
also acts as a tuned circuit due to the capacitance (C2), the
sum of the parasitic capacitance between the turns of the
coil plus the capacitance of the toroid electrode E. Current
flows rapidly back and forth through the secondary coil
between its ends. Because of the small capacitance, the
oscillating voltage across the secondary coil which appears
on the output terminal is much larger than the primary
voltage.
4. The secondary current creates a magnetic field that induces
voltage back in the primary coil, and over a number of
additional cycles the energy is transferred back to the
primary. This process repeats, the energy shifting rapidly
back and forth between the primary and secondary tuned
circuits. The oscillating currents in the primary and
secondary gradually die out ("ring down") due to energy
dissipated as heat in the spark gap and resistance of the coil.
5. When the current through the spark gap is no longer
sufficient to keep the air in the gap ionized, the spark stops
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 ("quenches"), terminating the current in the primary circuit.
The oscillating current in the secondary may continue for
some time.
6. The current from the supply transformer begins charging the
capacitor C1 again and the cycle repeats.
This entire cycle takes place very rapidly, the oscillations dying
out in a time of the order of a millisecond. Each spark across the
spark gap produces a pulse of damped sinusoidal high voltage at
the output terminal of the coil. Each pulse dies out before the
next spark occurs, so the coil generates a string of damped
waves, not a continuous sinusoidal voltage. The high voltage
from the supply transformer that charges the capacitor is a 50 or
60 Hz sine wave. Depending on how the spark gap is set, usually
one or two sparks occur at the peak of each half-cycle of the
mains current, so there are more than a hundred sparks per
second. Thus the spark at the spark gap appears continuous, as
do the high voltage streamers from the top of the coil.
The supply transformer (T) secondary winding is connected
across the primary tuned circuit. It might seem that the
transformer would be a leakage path for the RF current, damping
the oscillations. However its large inductance gives it a very high
impedance at the resonant frequency, so it acts as an open circuit
to the oscillating current. If the supply transformer has
inadequate leakage inductance, radio frequency chokes are
placed in its secondary leads to block the RF current.
Oscillation frequency
To produce the largest output voltage, the primary and secondary
tuned circuits are adjusted to resonance with each other. Since

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the secondary circuit is usually not adjustable, this is generally
done by an adjustable tap on , the primary coil.
If the two coils were separate, the resonant frequencies of the
primary and secondary circuits, and , would be determined by
the inductance and capacitance in each circuit
However, because they are coupled together, the frequency at
which the secondary resonates is affected by the primary circuit
and the coupling coefficient, and occurs at its antiresonant
frequency while the original resonant frequency acts as an
antiresonant frequency. The frequency at which the coil has to be
driven is the serial resonant frequency.So resonance, and the
highest voltages occur when Thus the condition for resonance
between primary and secondary is However the Tesla
transformer is very loosely coupled, and the coupling coefficient

is small, in the range 0.05 to 0.4. So the factor is close to

unity, 0.917 to 0.999, so the two resonant frequencies differ by
8% at most. Therefore, most sources state the transformer is
resonant when the resonant frequencies of primary and
secondary are equal.
The resonant frequency of Tesla coils is in the low radio
frequency (RF) range, usually between 50 kHz and 1 MHz.
However, because of the impulsive nature of the spark they
produce broadband radio noise, and without shielding can be a
significant source of RFI, interfering with nearby radio and
television reception.

Page 11 of 38
Page 12 of 38
Output voltage

Large coil producing 3.5 meter (10 foot) streamer arcs,

indicating a potential of millions of volts.
In a resonant transformer the high voltage is produced by
resonance; the output voltage is not proportional to the turns
ratio, as in an ordinary transformer.[31] It can be calculated
approximately from conservation of energy. At the beginning of
the cycle, when the spark starts, all of the energy in the primary
circuit is stored in the primary capacitor . If is the voltage at
which the spark gap breaks down, which is usually close to the
peak output voltage of the supply transformer T, this energy is
During the "ring up" this energy is transferred to the secondary
circuit. Although some is lost as heat in the spark and other
resistances, in modern coils, over 85% of the energy ends up in
the secondary. At the peak of the secondary sinusoidal voltage
waveform, all the energy in the secondary is stored in the
capacitance between the ends of the secondary coil Assuming no
energy losses . Substituting into this equation and simplifying,
the peak secondary voltage is The second formula above is
derived from the first using the resonance condition . Since the
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capacitance of the secondary coil is very small compared to the
primary capacitor, the primary voltage is stepped up to a high
value.
The above peak voltage is only achieved in coils in which air
discharges do not occur; in coils which produce sparks, like
entertainment coils, the peak voltage on the terminal is limited to
the voltage at which the air breaks down and becomes
conductive. As the output voltage increases during each voltage
pulse, it reaches the point where the air next to the high voltage
terminal ionizes and coronas, brush discharges and streamer arcs,
break out from the terminal. This happens when the electric field
strength exceeds the dielectric strength of the air, about 30 kV
per centimeter. Since the electric field is greatest at sharp points
and edges, air discharges start at these points on the high voltage
terminal. The voltage on the high voltage terminal cannot
increase above the air breakdown voltage, because additional
electric charge pumped into the terminal from the secondary
winding just escapes into the air. The output voltage of open-air
Tesla coils is limited to around several million volts by air
breakdown, but higher voltages can be achieved by coils
immersed in pressurized tanks of insulating oil.

The top load or "toroid" electrode

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Solid state DRSSTC Tesla coil with pointed wire attached to
toroid to produce brush discharge
Most Tesla coil designs have a smooth spherical or toroidal
shaped metal electrode on the high voltage terminal. The
electrode serves as one plate of a capacitor, with the Earth as the
other plate, forming the tuned circuit with the secondary
winding. Although the "toroid" increases the secondary
capacitance, which tends to reduce the peak voltage, its main
effect is that its large diameter curved surface reduces the
potential gradient (electric field) at the high voltage terminal,
increasing the voltage threshold at which air discharges such as
corona and brush discharges occur. Suppressing premature air
breakdown and energy loss allows the voltage to build to higher
values on the peaks of the waveform, creating longer, more
spectacular streamers.
If the top electrode is large and smooth enough, the electric field
at its surface may never get high enough even at the peak voltage
to cause air breakdown, and air discharges will not occur. Some
entertainment coils have a sharp "spark point" projecting from
the torus to start discharges.

Page 15 of 38
 2. Types
The term "Tesla coil" is applied to a number of high voltage
resonant transformer circuits.
Tesla coil circuits can be classified by the type of "excitation"
they use, what type of circuit is used to apply current to the
primary winding of the resonant transformer:
 Spark-excited or Spark Gap Tesla Coil (SGTC) - This
type uses a spark gap to switch pulses of current through the
primary, exciting oscillation in the transformer. This pulsed
(disruptive) drive creates a pulsed high voltage output.
Spark gaps have disadvantages due to the high primary
currents they must handle. They produce a very loud noise
while operating, noxious ozone gas, and high temperatures
which often require a cooling system. The energy dissipated
in the spark also reduces the Q factor and the output voltage.
o Static spark gap - This is the most common type,

which was described in detail in the previous section. It

is used in most entertainment coils. An AC voltage
from a high voltage supply transformer charges a
capacitor, which discharges through the spark gap. The
spark rate is not adjustable but is determined by the line
frequency. Multiple sparks may occur on each half-
cycle, so the pulses of output voltage may not be
equally-spaced.
o Static triggered spark gap - Commercial and

industrial circuits often apply a DC voltage from a

power supply to charge the capacitor, and use high
voltage pulses generated by an oscillator applied to a
triggering electrode to trigger the spark. This allows
control of the spark rate and exciting voltage.
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 Commercial spark gaps are often enclosed in an
insulating gas atmosphere such as sulfur hexafluoride,
reducing the length and thus the energy loss in the
spark.
o Rotary spark gap - These use a spark gap consisting of
electrodes around the periphery of a wheel rotated at
high speed by a motor, which create sparks when they
pass by a stationary electrode. Tesla used this type on
his big coils, and they are used today on large
entertainment coils. The rapid separation speed of the
electrodes quenches the spark quickly, allowing "first
notch" quenching, making possible higher voltages. The
wheel is usually driven by a synchronous motor, so the
sparks are synchronized with the AC line frequency, the
spark occurring at the same point on the AC waveform
on each cycle, so the primary pulses are repeatable.

A simple single resonant solid state Tesla coil circuit in which

the ground end of the secondary supplies the feedback current
phase to the transistor oscillator.

Page 17 of 38
This block diagram explains the principle of Tesla coil current
resonance type driving circuit.
 Switched or Solid State Tesla Coil (SSTC) - These use
power semiconductor devices, usually thyristors or
transistors such as MOSFETs or IGBTs, to switch pulses of
current from a DC power supply through the primary
winding. They provide pulsed (disruptive) excitation
without the disadvantages of a spark gap: the loud noise,
high temperatures, and poor efficiency. The voltage,
frequency, and excitation waveform can be finely
controllable. SSTCs are used in most commercial, industrial,
and research applications as well as higher quality
entertainment coils.
o Single resonant solid state Tesla coil (SRSSTC) - In

this circuit the primary does not have a capacitor and so

is not a tuned circuit; only the secondary is. The pulses
of current to the primary from the switching transistors
excite resonance in the secondary tuned circuit. Single
tuned SSTCs are simpler, but don't have as high a Q and
cannot produce as high voltage from a given input
power as the DRSSTC.
o Dual Resonant Solid State Tesla Coil (DRSSTC) -

The circuit is similar to the double tuned spark excited

circuit, except in place of the spark gap semiconductor
switches are used. This functions similarly to the double
tuned spark-excited circuit. Since both primary and
secondary are resonant it has higher Q and can generate
higher voltage for a given input power than the
SRSSTC.
o Singing Tesla coil or musical Tesla coil - This is a

Tesla coil which can be played like a musical

Page 18 of 38
 instrument, with its high voltage discharges reproducing
simple musical tones. The drive current pulses applied
to the primary are modulated at an audio rate by a solid
state "interrupter" circuit, causing the arc discharge
from the high voltage terminal to emit sounds. Only
tones and simple chords have been produced so far; the
coil cannot function as a loudspeaker, reproducing
complex music or voice sounds. The sound output is
controlled by a keyboard or MIDI file applied to the
circuit through a MIDI interface. Two modulation
techniques have been used: AM (amplitude modulation
of the exciting voltage) and PFM (pulse-frequency
modulation). These are mainly built as novelties for
entertainment.
 Continuous wave - In these the transformer is driven by a
feedback oscillator, which applies a sinusoidal current to the
transformer. The primary tuned circuit serves as the tank
circuit of the oscillator, and the circuit resembles a radio
transmitter. Unlike the previous circuits which generate a
pulsed output, they generate a continuous sine wave output.
Power vacuum tubes are often used as active devices instead
of transistors because they are more robust and tolerant of
overloads. In general, continuous excitation produces lower
output voltages from a given input power than pulsed
excitation.
Tesla circuits can also be classified by how many coils
(inductors) they contain:
 Two coil or double-resonant circuits - Virtually all present
Tesla coils use the two coil resonant transformer, consisting
of a primary winding to which current pulses are applied,
and a secondary winding that produces the high voltage,
Page 19 of 38
 invented by Tesla in 1891. The term "Tesla coil" normally
refers to these circuits.
 Three coil, triple-resonant, or magnifier circuits - These
are circuits with three coils, based on Tesla's "magnifying
transmitter" circuit which he began experimenting with
sometime before 1898 and installed in his Colorado Springs
lab 1899-1900, and patented in 1902. They consist of a two
coil air-core step-up transformer similar to the Tesla
transformer, with the secondary connected to a third coil not
magnetically coupled to the others, called the "extra" or
"resonator" coil, which is series-fed and resonates with its
own capacitance. The presence of three energy-storing tank
circuits gives this circuit more complicated resonant
behavior. It is the subject of research, but has been used in
few practical applications.

3. History

Henry Rowland's 1889 spark-excited resonant transformer, a

predecessor to the Tesla coil.

Page 20 of 38
Steps in Tesla's development of the Tesla transformer around
1891. and Elihu Thomson (1) Closed-core transformers used at
low frequencies, (2-7) rearranging windings for lower losses, (8)
removed iron core, (9) partial core, (10-11) final conical Tesla
transformer, (12-13) Tesla coil circuits
Main article: History of the Tesla coil
Electrical oscillation and even resonant air-core transformer
circuits had been explored and developed before Tesla, including
Joseph Henry in Leyden jars (1850), and resonant transformers
developed by Henry Rowland (1889) and Elihu Thomson
(1890). Tesla patented his Tesla coil circuit April 25, 1891. and
first publicly demonstrated it May 20, 1891 in his lecture
"Experiments with Alternate Currents of Very High Frequency
and Their Application to Methods of Artificial Illumination"
before the American Institute of Electrical Engineers at
Columbia College, New York. Although Tesla patented many
similar circuits during this period, this was the first that
contained all the elements of the Tesla coil: high voltage primary
transformer, capacitor, spark gap, and air core "oscillation
transformer".

4. Modern-day Tesla coils

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Page 21 of 38
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Electric discharge showing the lightning-like plasma filaments

from a 'Tesla coil'

Tesla coil (discharge).

Tesla coil in terrarium (I)

Modern high-voltage enthusiasts usually build Tesla coils similar
to some of Tesla's "later" 2-coil air-core designs. These typically
consist of a primary tank circuit, a series LC (inductance-
capacitance) circuit composed of a high-voltage capacitor, spark
gap and primary coil, and the secondary LC circuit, a series-
resonant circuit consisting of the secondary coil plus a terminal
capacitance or "top load". In Tesla's more advanced (magnifier)
design, a third coil is added. The secondary LC circuit is
composed of a tightly coupled air-core transformer secondary
coil driving the bottom of a separate third coil helical resonator.
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Modern 2-coil systems use a single secondary coil. The top of
the secondary is then connected to a topload terminal, which
forms one 'plate' of a capacitor, the other 'plate' being the earth
(or "ground"). The primary LC circuit is tuned so that it
resonates at the same frequency as the secondary LC circuit. The
primary and secondary coils are magnetically coupled, creating a
dual-tuned resonant air-core transformer. Earlier oil-insulated
Tesla coils needed large and long insulators at their high-voltage
terminals to prevent discharge in air. Later Tesla coils spread
their electric fields over larger distances to prevent high
electrical stresses in the first place, thereby allowing operation in
free air. Most modern Tesla coils also use toroid-shaped output
terminals. These are often fabricated from spun metal or flexible
aluminum ducting. The toroidal shape helps to control the high
electrical field near the top of the secondary by directing sparks
outward and away from the primary and secondary windings.
A more complex version of a Tesla coil, termed a "magnifier" by
Tesla, uses a more tightly coupled air-core resonance "driver"
transformer (or "master oscillator") and a smaller, remotely
located output coil (called the "extra coil" or simply the
resonator) that has a large number of turns on a relatively small
coil form. The bottom of the driver's secondary winding is
connected to ground. The opposite end is connected to the
bottom of the extra coil through an insulated conductor that is
sometimes called the transmission line. Since the transmission
line operates at relatively high RF voltages, it is typically made
of 1" diameter metal tubing to reduce corona losses. Since the
third coil is located some distance away from the driver, it is not
magnetically coupled to it. RF energy is instead directly coupled
from the output of the driver into the bottom of the third coil,
causing it to "ring up" to very high voltages. The combination of
Page 23 of 38
the two-coil driver and third coil resonator adds another degree
of freedom to the system, making tuning considerably more
complex than that of a 2-coil system. The transient response for
multiple resonance networks (of which the Tesla magnifier is a
sub-set) has only recently been solved. It is now known that a
variety of useful tuning "modes" are available, and in most
operating modes the extra coil will ring at a different frequency
than the master oscillator.
Primary switching

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Modern transistor or vacuum tube Tesla coils do not use a

primary spark gap. Instead, the transistor(s) or vacuum tube(s)
provide the switching or amplifying function necessary to
generate RF power for the primary circuit. Solid-state Tesla coils
use the lowest primary operating voltage, typically between 155
and 800 volts, and drive the primary winding using either a
single, half-bridge, or full-bridge arrangement of bipolar
transistors, MOSFETs or IGBTs to switch the primary current.
Vacuum tube coils typically operate with plate voltages between
1500 and 6000 volts, while most spark gap coils operate with
primary voltages of 6,000 to 25,000 volts. The primary winding
of a traditional transistor Tesla coil is wound around only the
bottom portion of the secondary coil. This configuration
illustrates operation of the secondary as a pumped resonator. The
primary 'induces' alternating voltage into the bottom-most
portion of the secondary, providing regular 'pushes' (similar to
providing properly timed pushes to a playground swing).
Page 24 of 38
Additional energy is transferred from the primary to the
secondary inductance and top-load capacitance during each
"push", and secondary output voltage builds (called 'ring-up').
An electronic feedback circuit is usually used to adaptively
synchronize the primary oscillator to the growing resonance in
the secondary, and this is the only tuning consideration beyond
the initial choice of a reasonable top-load.

Demonstration of the Nevada Lightning Laboratory 1:12 scale

prototype twin Tesla Coil at Maker Faire 2008
In a dual resonant solid-state Tesla coil (DRSSTC), the
electronic switching of the solid-state Tesla coil is combined
with the resonant primary circuit of a spark-gap Tesla coil. The
resonant primary circuit is formed by connecting a capacitor in
series with the primary winding of the coil, so that the
combination forms a series tank circuit with a resonant
frequency near that of the secondary circuit. Because of the
additional resonant circuit, one manual and one adaptive tuning
adjustment are necessary. Also, an interrupter is usually used to
reduce the duty cycle of the switching bridge, to improve peak
power capabilities; similarly, IGBTs are more popular in this
application than bipolar transistors or MOSFETs, due to their
superior power handling characteristics. A current-limiting
circuit is usually used to limit maximum primary tank current
Page 25 of 38
(which must be switched by the IGBT's) to a safe level.
Performance of a DRSSTC can be comparable to a medium-
power spark-gap Tesla coil, and efficiency (as measured by
spark length versus input power) can be significantly greater
than a spark-gap Tesla coil operating at the same input power.

5. Practical aspects of design

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High voltage production

A large Tesla coil of more modern design often operates at very
high peak power levels, up to many megawatts (millions of
watts). It is therefore adjusted and operated carefully, not only
for efficiency and economy, but also for safety. If, due to
improper tuning, the maximum voltage point occurs below the
terminal, along the secondary coil, a discharge (spark) may break
out and damage or destroy the coil wire, supports, or nearby
objects.
Tesla coil schematics

Page 26 of 38
Typical circuit configuration
Here, the spark gap shorts the high frequency across the first
transformer that is supplied by alternating current. An
inductance, not shown, protects the transformer. This design is
favoured when a relatively fragile neon sign transformer is used.

Alternative circuit configuration

With the capacitor in parallel to the first transformer and the
spark gap in series to the Tesla-coil primary, the AC supply
transformer must be capable of withstanding high voltages at
high frequencies.
Tesla experimented with these, and many other, circuit
configurations (see right). The Tesla coil primary winding, spark
gap and tank capacitor are connected in series. In each circuit,
the AC supply transformer charges the tank capacitor until its
voltage is sufficient to break down the spark gap. The gap
suddenly fires, allowing the charged tank capacitor to discharge
into the primary winding. Once the gap fires, the electrical
behavior of either circuit is identical. Experiments have shown
that neither circuit offers any marked performance advantage
over the other.
However, in the typical circuit, the spark gap's short circuiting
action prevents high-frequency oscillations from 'backing up'
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into the supply transformer. In the alternate circuit, high
amplitude high frequency oscillations that appear across the
capacitor also are applied to the supply transformer's winding.
This can induce corona discharges between turns that weaken
and eventually destroy the transformer's insulation. Experienced
Tesla coil builders almost exclusively use the top circuit, often
augmenting it with low pass filters (resistor and capacitor (RC)
networks) between the supply transformer and spark gap to help
protect the supply transformer. This is especially important when
using transformers with fragile high-voltage windings, such as
neon sign transformers (NSTs). Regardless of which
configuration is used, the HV transformer must be of a type that
self-limits its secondary current by means of internal leakage
inductance. A normal (low leakage inductance) high-voltage
transformer must use an external limiter (sometimes called a
ballast) to limit current. NSTs are designed to have high leakage
inductance to limit their short circuit current to a safe level.
Tuning
The primary coil's resonant frequency is tuned to that of the
secondary, by using low-power oscillations, then increasing the
power (and retuning if necessary) until the system operates
properly at maximum power. While tuning, a small projection
(called a "breakout bump") is often added to the top terminal in
order to stimulate corona and spark discharges (sometimes called
streamers) into the surrounding air. Tuning can then be adjusted
so as to achieve the longest streamers at a given power level,
corresponding to a frequency match between the primary and
secondary coil. Capacitive "loading" by the streamers tends to
lower the resonant frequency of a Tesla coil operating under full
power. A toroidal topload is often preferred to other shapes, such
as a sphere. A toroid with a major diameter that is much larger
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than the secondary diameter provides improved shaping of the
electrical field at the topload. This provides better protection of
the secondary winding (from damaging streamer strikes) than a
sphere of similar diameter. And, a toroid permits fairly
independent control of topload capacitance versus spark
breakout voltage. A toroid's capacitance is mainly a function of
its major diameter, while the spark breakout voltage is mainly a
function of its minor diameter. A grid dip oscillator (GDO) is
sometimes used to help facilitate initial tuning and aid in design.
The resonant frequency of the secondary can be difficult to
determine except by using a GDO or other experimental method,
whereas the physical properties of the primary more closely
represent first-order approximations of RF tank design. In this
schema the secondary is built somewhat arbitrarily in imitation
of other successful designs, or entirely so with supplies on hand,
it's resonant frequency is measured and the primary designed to
suit.

Air discharges

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A small, later-type Tesla coil in operation: The output is giving
43-cm sparks. The diameter of the secondary is 8 cm. The power
source is a 10 000 V, 60 Hz current-limited supply.
While generating discharges, electrical energy from the
secondary and toroid is transferred to the surrounding air as
electrical charge, heat, light, and sound. The process is similar to
charging or discharging a capacitor, except that a Tesla coil uses
AC instead of DC. The current that arises from shifting charges
within a capacitor is called a displacement current. Tesla coil
discharges are formed as a result of displacement currents as
pulses of electrical charge are rapidly transferred between the
high-voltage toroid and nearby regions within the air (called
space charge regions). Although the space charge regions around
the toroid are invisible, they play a profound role in the
appearance and location of Tesla coil discharges.
When the spark gap fires, the charged capacitor discharges into
the primary winding, causing the primary circuit to oscillate. The
oscillating primary current creates an oscillating magnetic field
that couples to the secondary winding, transferring energy into
the secondary side of the transformer and causing it to oscillate
with the toroid capacitance to ground. Energy transfer occurs
over a number of cycles, until most of the energy that was
originally in the primary side is transferred to the secondary side.
The greater the magnetic coupling between windings, the shorter
the time required to complete the energy transfer. As energy
builds within the oscillating secondary circuit, the amplitude of
the toroid's RF voltage rapidly increases, and the air surrounding
the toroid begins to undergo dielectric breakdown, forming a
corona discharge.

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As the secondary coil's energy (and output voltage) continue to
increase, larger pulses of displacement current further ionize and
heat the air at the point of initial breakdown. This forms a very
electrically conductive "root" of hotter plasma, called a leader,
that projects outward from the toroid. The plasma within the
leader is considerably hotter than a corona discharge, and is
considerably more conductive. In fact, its properties are similar
to an electric arc. The leader tapers and branches into thousands
of thinner, cooler, hair-like discharges (called streamers). The
streamers look like a bluish 'haze' at the ends of the more
luminous leaders. The streamers transfer charge between the
leaders and toroid to nearby space charge regions. The
displacement currents from countless streamers all feed into the
leader, helping to keep it hot and electrically conductive.
The primary break rate of sparking Tesla coils is slow compared
to the resonant frequency of the resonator-topload assembly.
When the switch closes, energy is transferred from the primary
LC circuit to the resonator where the voltage rings up over a
short period of time up culminating in the electrical discharge. In
a spark gap Tesla coil, the primary-to-secondary energy transfer
process happens repetitively at typical pulsing rates of 50–500
times per second, depending on the frequency of the input line
voltage. At these rates, previously-formed leader channels do not
get a chance to fully cool down between pulses. So, on
successive pulses, newer discharges can build upon the hot
pathways left by their predecessors. This causes incremental
growth of the leader from one pulse to the next, lengthening the
entire discharge on each successive pulse. Repetitive pulsing
causes the discharges to grow until the average energy available
from the Tesla coil during each pulse balances the average
energy being lost in the discharges (mostly as heat). At this
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point, dynamic equilibrium is reached, and the discharges have
reached their maximum length for the Tesla coil's output power
level. The unique combination of a rising high-voltage radio
frequency envelope and repetitive pulsing seem to be ideally
suited to creating long, branching discharges that are
considerably longer than would be otherwise expected by output
voltage considerations alone. High-voltage, low-energy
discharges create filamentary multibranched discharges which
are purplish-blue in colour. High-voltage, high-energy
discharges create thicker discharges with fewer branches, are
pale and luminous, almost white, and are much longer than low-
energy discharges, because of increased ionisation. A strong
smell of ozone and nitrogen oxides will occur in the area. The
important factors for maximum discharge length appear to be
voltage, energy, and still air of low to moderate humidity. There
are comparatively few scientific studies about the initiation and
growth of pulsed lower-frequency RF discharges, so some
aspects of Tesla coil air discharges are not as well understood
when compared to DC, power-frequency AC, HV impulse, and
lightning discharges.

6. Applications
Today, although small Tesla coils are used as leak detectors in
scientific high vacuum systems and igniters in arc welders, their
main use is entertainment and educational displays.
Education and entertainment

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Electrum sculpture, the world's largest Tesla coil. Builder Eric
Orr is visible sitting inside the hollow spherical high voltage
electrode.
Tesla coils are displayed as attractions at science museums and
electronics fairs, and are used to demonstrate principles of high
frequency electricity in science classes in schools and colleges.
Since they are simple enough for an amateur to make, Tesla coils
are a popular student science fair project, and are homemade by
a large worldwide community of hobbyists. Builders of Tesla
coils as a hobby are called "coilers". They attend "coiling"
conventions where they display their home-made Tesla coils and
other high voltage devices. Low-power Tesla coils are also
sometimes used as a high-voltage source for Kirlian photography
The world's largest currently existing Tesla coil is a 130,000-
watt unit, part of a 38-foot-tall (12 m) sculpture titled Electrum
owned by Alan Gibbs and currently resides in a private sculpture
park at Kakanui Point near Auckland, New Zealand. A very
large Tesla coil, designed and built by Syd Klinge, is shown
every year at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, in
Coachella, Indio, California, USA. Austin Richards, a physicist
in California, created a metal Faraday Suit in 1997 that protects
him from Tesla coil discharges. In 1998, he named the character
in the suit Doctor MegaVolt and has performed all over the
world and at Burning Man nine different years.
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Tesla coils can also be used to generate sounds, including music,
by modulating the system's effective "break rate" (i.e., the rate
and duration of high power RF bursts) via MIDI data and a
control unit. The actual MIDI data is interpreted by a
microcontroller which converts the MIDI data into a PWM
output which can be sent to the Tesla coil via a fiber optic
interface. The YouTube video Super Mario Brothers theme in
stereo and harmony on two coils shows a performance on
matching solid state coils operating at 41 kHz. The coils were
built and operated by designer hobbyists Jeff Larson and Steve
Ward. The device has been named the Zeusaphone, after Zeus,
Greek god of lightning, and as a play on words referencing the
Sousaphone. The idea of playing music on the singing Tesla
coils flies around the world and a few followers continue the
work of initiators. An extensive outdoor musical concert has
demonstrated using Tesla coils during the Engineering Open
House (EOH) at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.
The Icelandic artist Björk used a Tesla coil in her song
"Thunderbolt" as the main instrument in the song. The musical
group ArcAttack uses modulated Tesla coils and a man in a
chain-link suit to play music.
Vacuum system leak detectors
Scientists working with high vacuum systems test for the
presence of tiny pin holes in the apparatus (especially a newly
blown piece of glassware) using high-voltage discharges
produced by a small handheld Tesla coil. When the system is
evacuated the high voltage electrode of the coil is played over
the outside of the apparatus. At low pressures, air is more easily
ionized and thus conducts electricity better than atmospheric
pressure air. Therefore, the discharge travels through any pin
hole immediately below it, producing a corona discharge inside
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the evacuated space which illuminates the hole, indicating points
that need to be annealed or reblown before they can be used in
an experiment.

7. Health hazards
The high voltage radio frequency (RF) discharges from the
output terminal of a Tesla coil pose a unique hazard not found in
other high voltage equipment: when passed through the body
they often do not cause the painful sensation and muscle
contraction of electric shock, as lower frequency AC or DC
currents do. The nervous system is insensitive to currents with
frequencies over 10 – 20 kHz. It is thought that the reason for
this is that a certain minimum number of ions must be driven
across a nerve cell's membrane by the imposed voltage to trigger
the nerve cell to depolarize and transmit an impulse. At radio
frequencies, there is insufficient time during a half-cycle for
enough ions to cross the membrane before the alternating voltage
reverses. The danger is that since no pain is felt, experimenters
often assume the currents are harmless. Teachers and hobbyists
demonstrating small Tesla coils often impress their audience by
touching the high voltage terminal or allowing the streamer arcs
to pass through their body.
If the arcs from the high voltage terminal strike the bare skin,
they can cause deep-seated burns called RF burns. This is often
avoided by allowing the arcs to strike a piece of metal held in the
hand, or a thimble on a finger, instead. The current passes from
the metal into the person's hand through a wide enough surface
area to avoid causing burns. Often no sensation is felt, or just a
warmth or tingling.

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However this does not mean the current is harmless. Even a
small Tesla coil produces many times the electrical energy
necessary to stop the heart, if the frequency happens to be low
enough to cause ventricular fibrillation. A minor misadjustment
of the coil could result in electrocution. In addition, the RF
current heats the tissues it passes through. Tesla coil currents,
applied directly to the skin by electrodes, were used in the early
20th century for deep body tissue heating in the medical field of
longwave diathermy. The amount of heating depends on the
current density, which depends on the power output of the Tesla
coil and the cross-sectional area of the path the current takes
through the body to ground. Particularly if it passes through
narrow structures such as blood vessels or joints it may raise the
local tissue temperature to hyperthermic levels, "cooking"
internal organs or causing other injuries. International ICNIRP
safety standards for RF current in the body in the Tesla coil
frequency range of 0.1 - 1 MHz specify a maximum current
density of 0.2 mA per square centimeter and a maximum power
absorption rate (SAR) in tissue of 4 W/kg in limbs and 0.8 W/kg
average over the body. Even low power Tesla coils could exceed
these limits, and it is generally impossible to determine the
threshold current where bodily injury begins. Being struck by
arcs from a high power (> 1000 watt) Tesla coil is likely to be
fatal.
Another reported hazard of this practice is that arcs from the
high voltage terminal often strike the primary winding of the
coil. This momentarily creates a conductive path for the lethal
50/60 Hz primary current from the supply transformer to reach
the output terminal. If a person is connected to the output
terminal at the time, either by touching it or allowing arcs from
the terminal to strike the person's body, then the high primary
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current could pass through the conductive ionized air path,
through the body to ground, causing electrocution.

Skin effect myth

An erroneous explanation for the absence of electric shock that
has persisted among Tesla coil hobbyists is that the high
frequency currents travel through the body close to the surface,
and thus do not penetrate to vital organs or nerves, due to an
electromagnetic phenomenon called skin effect.
This theory is false. RF current does tend to flow on the surface
of conductors due to skin effect, but the depth to which it
penetrates, called skin depth, depends on the resistivity and
permittivity of the material as well as the frequency. Although
skin effect limits currents of Tesla coil frequencies to the outer
fraction of a millimeter in metal conductors, the skin depth of the
current in body tissue is much deeper due to its higher resistivity
and lower permittivity. The depth of penetration of currents of
Tesla frequency (0.1 - 1 MHz) in human tissues is roughly 24 to
72 cm (9 to 28 inches). Since even the deepest tissues are closer
than this to the surface, skin effect has little influence on the path
of the current through the body; it tends to take the path of
minimum electrical impedance to ground, and can easily pass
through the core of the body. In the medical therapy called
longwave diathermy, carefully controlled RF current of Tesla
frequencies was used for decades for deep tissue warming,
including heating internal organs such as the lungs. Modern
shortwave diathermy machines use a higher frequency of
27 MHz, which would have a correspondingly smaller skin

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depth, yet these frequencies are still able to penetrate deep body
tissues.

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