Sj. Macgregor et al., FACTORS AFFECTING AND METHODS OF IMPROVING THE PULSE REPETITION FREQUENCY OF PULSE-CHARGED AND DC-CHARGED HIGH-PRESSURE GAS SWITCHES, IEEE transactions on plasma science, 25(2), 1997, pp. 110-117
The results of this paper describe some of the factors which affect th
e repetitive operation of high-pressure gas switches (spark gaps) for
both pulse-charged and de-charged operation, Also discussed are method
s which may be employed to improve the pulse repetition frequency (PRF
) of spark gaps operating under such conditions, Under pulse-charged c
onditions, the voltage recovery process of the spark gap has been show
n to be restricted following partial density recovery by the residual
ion population. This restriction may be minimized by applying a suitab
le bias voltage across the gap to remove the ion influence. It is also
possible to manipulate the voltage-pressure (V-p) breakdown character
istic of a spark gap in order to improve the rate of rise of recovery
voltage by reducing the recovery voltage dependence upon gas pressure,
The combination of these effects has been shown to reduce the voltage
recovery time of pulse-charged spark gaps from several hundred millis
econds to several milliseconds. Under de-charged conditions, where no
''dead time'' is available for voltage recovery, it is possible to emp
loy corona discharge effects, which occur in highly nonuniform fields,
to stabilize and control the breakdown process. The use of corona sta
bilization has enabled the operation of a self-closing spark gap at a
PRF of more than 5 kHz, without employing gas flow techniques, A trigg
ered version of a corona-stabilized spark gap has also been developed
which has demonstrated single run capabilities of 10(7) (4 h continuou
s operation at 700 pps) and a lifetime of similar to 10(8) shots (main
tenance free, sealed switch). The triggered corona switch has also dem
onstrated controlled switching up to a PRF of 1.2 kHz.