Low-inductance gas switches for linear transformer drivers

Abstract

We are investigating several alternate gas-switch designs for use in linear transformer drivers. To meet linear-transformer-driver (LTD) requirements, these air-insulated switches must be DC charged to 200 kV, be triggerable with a jitter of 5 ns or less, have very low prefire and no-fire rates (∼1 in 10^{4} shots), and have a lifetime of at least several thousand shots. Since the switch inductance plays a significant role in limiting the rise time and peak current of the LTD circuit, the inductance needs to be as low as possible. The switches are required to conduct current pulses with ∼100-ns rise times and 20–80 kA peak currents, depending on the application. Our baseline switch, designed by the High Current Electronics Institute in Tomsk, Russia, is a six-stage switch with an inductance on the order of 115 nH that is insulated with 47–67 psia of air. We are also testing three smaller two-stage switches that have inductances on the order of 66–100 nH. The smaller switches are insulated with 92–252 psia of air.