Multiple-gap spark gap switch

Z. Liu, K. Yan, G. J. J. Winands, A. J. M. Pemen, E. J. M. Van Heesch, D. B. Pawelek
2006 Review of Scientific Instruments  
A triggered multiple-gap spark gap switch has been developed and tested under atmosphere. By means of an LCR trigger circuit, the multiple-gap switch can be used very reliably. For the same switching voltage ͑35.5 kV͒, with increasing the number of gaps from 2 to 6, the switching current rise time is reduced from 13.5 to 6 ns, and the energy efficiency is increased from 87% to 92%. An eight-gap switch was also tested, and the switching current rise time is much smaller than the usable rise time
more » ... of the current probe ͑3.5 ns͒. One interesting application of the multiple-gap switch is to improve the switching performance in the multiple-switch and transmission lines based pulsed power circuit. To verify this application, a six-gap switch was tested. In contrast to a single-gap switch, the output current rise time was improved from 21 to 11 ns by the six-gap switch.
doi:10.1063/1.2216792 fatcat:ogocuhklf5el3nyp3nzwv4oo74