Influence of metal vapor release on pseudospark switch performance
- Univ. of Erlangen-Nuernberg, Erlangen (Germany). Dept. of Physics; and others
The pseudospark discharge is a low pressure gas discharge in a coaxial electrode geometry. Both, cathode and anode are built as hollow electrodes and have a central bore. For the use as a fast closing switch at least 10{sup 9} electrons have to be injected into the hollow cathode to ignite the discharge with low timing jitter. Within some tens of nanoseconds the discharge runs through different modes and the switch impedance drops to very low values. A typical pseudospark switch was run in a circuit with low current rise (10{sup 9} A/s) to prolong the discharge phases. Different investigations (spectrally resolved fast shutter photography and photo multiplier measurements, determination of the electron beam passing into the hollow anode by a Faraday cup, measurement of the forward voltage drop FVD by two high voltage probes) were performed. Results of these measurements are compared to quantitative measurements of the metal vapor density by laser induced fluorescence. Possible mechanism of the different discharge phases are discussed.
- OSTI ID:
- 178231
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-950612--; ISBN 0-7803-2669-5
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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