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U.S. Department of Energy
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Theoretical modeling of the plasma-erosion opening switch for inductive-storage applications

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:5630708
A theoretical model for the plasma erosion opening switch (PEOS) is presented which predicts its voltage, current and impedance history as a function of the input waveforms, geometry and switch parameters. Scaling laws for the switch operation are developed from this model. Systems requirements for pulse compression and power multiplication using inductive storage are derived from a simple lumped circuit analysis and a transmission line analysis. These requirements are shown to be satisfied using the PEOS as a fast opening, vacuum switch in a configuration relevant for existing high power accelerators. The switch model is incorporated into a transmission line code for comparison with recent inductive storage experiments. Code results agree well with the data and show conduction times of approx. 60 ns, switching times of approx. 10 ns with peak currents of approx. 600 kA.
Research Organization:
Naval Research Lab., Washington, DC (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
AI08-79DP40092
OSTI ID:
5630708
Report Number(s):
NRL-MR-5205; ON: DE84001843
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English