Low-jitter, high-voltage, infrared, laser-triggered, vacuum switch

Conference · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1991

OSTI ID:5617871

Earley, L M; Barnes, G A

A laser-triggered, high-voltage vacuum switch using a triggering pellet embedded in the cathode has been developed. The switch was constructed with tungsten electrodes and used either KC1 or Poco graphite pellets. An aperture in the anode allowed the laser beam to strike the pellet on the cathode surface. Reliable triggering was achieved with only 200 {mu}J of laser energy at a wavelength of 1064 nm. The switch was operated with an A-K gap voltage ranging from 5- to 30-kV with switching currents up to 15 kA peak. The delay time of the switch vaired from 70 {plus minus} 3 ns at 25 kv to 500 {plus minus} 100 ns at 5 kV. 6 refs., 6 figs., 2 tabs.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 5617871
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-91-2052; CONF-910640-21; ON: DE91014602
• Resource Relation: Conference: 8. IEEE pulsed power conference, San Diego, CA (United States), 17-19 Jun 1991
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
PLASMA SWITCHES
TESTING
CATHODES
ELECTRIC FIELDS
GRAPHITE
HIGH VACUUM
LASER RADIATION
NEODYMIUM LASERS
PELLETS
POTASSIUM CHLORIDES
THRESHOLD ENERGY
TUNGSTEN
ALKALI METAL COMPOUNDS
CARBON
CHLORIDES
CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT
ELECTRODES
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTAL MINERALS
ELEMENTS
ENERGY
EQUIPMENT
HALIDES
HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
LASERS
METALS
MINERALS
NONMETALS
POTASSIUM COMPOUNDS
RADIATIONS
SOLID STATE LASERS
SWITCHES
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
426000* - Engineering- Components
Electron Devices & Circuits- (1990-)