Switching devices – EPTRON with 100 kV operating voltage and sub-nanosecond switching times

Abstract

Abstract The data on the experimental study of the characteristics of a gas-discharge switching device consisting of an open discharge section with generation of counter propagating electron beams acting as an electron emitter, and a capillary discharge section providing a large time delay for the development of the discharge τ d and a rapid recombination of the plasma after the passage of the current pulse are presented. The ability of this device to operate at voltages up to 100 kV, while maintaining a delay time τ d of the order of several hundred ns and subnanosecond capillary breakdown τ sc , is demonstrated. The τ sc voltage independence in the range of helium pressures p He = 6–30 Torr was found.