A Sealed-Off Pseudospark Switch With Nanosecond Stability of Triggering

This article describes the modified version of the commercially produced pseudospark switch TPI1-10k/50 (pulsed current—10 kA and anode voltage—up to 50 kV) and the results of testing. The main idea of the modification was to use the high-voltage electrode system of this switch but to incorporate the novel trigger unit in the main cathode cavity. This unit uses the auxiliary glow discharge with hollow cathode and hollow anode. The modified switch is intentionally developed for parallel operation of a large number of the switches to a common load. In such conditions, the nanosecond triggering stability of the switches is required. The results of tests demonstrate that the minimum delay time of triggering (the time interval between the instant of arrival of the trigger pulse and the instant of starting the main discharge current) amounts to 80 ns with a jitter of 3 ns. At a decreased hydrogen pressure, the delay time is not increased essentially and amounts to 105 ns with a jitter of 6 ns.