TRIGGERING A RADIAL MULTICHANNEL PSEUDOSPARK SWITCH USING ELECTRONS EMITTED FROM MATERIAL WITH HIGH DIELECTRIC-CONSTANT

The electron emission from a field emission trigger unit was matched t o the requirements for the simultaneous ignition of all channels in a radial multichannel pseudospark switch for a large parameter range of the pseudospark discharge. In such trigger unit the electrons are extr acted from the surface of a high-E material by field emission after ap plying a pulsed voltage. Electron emission occurs in a pressure range from 1-50 Pa? where the pseudospark discharge is operated. The access to low working gas pressures (<10 Pa) using such trigger unit allows f or achieving high hold-off voltages. The ignition of the pseudospark d ischarge was investigated by means of high speed photography and by a parallel observation of the electron beam of a single discharge channe l, which occurs in hollow-cathode phase. (C) 1997 American Institute o f Physics.