Influence of the cathode region preionization on the operating parameters of the eptron

Abstract

Abstract Investigations of the operating parameters of a plasma-cathode switch based on a capillary discharge in helium and neon in the burst mode are presented. An increase in the efficiency of the switch is demonstrated when an additional preionization pulse is applied at a low pulse repetition frequency (5 kHz). The compression ratio of voltage pulses more than 300 is achieved at a pulse repetition frequencies less than 40 kHz.