Design of a command-triggered plasma opening switch for terawatt applications

Inductive energy storage systems can have high-energy density, leading to s maller, less-expensive systems. The crucial element of an inductive energy storage system is the opening switch. This sn;itch must conduct current whi le energy is stored in an inductor, then open quickly to transfer this ener gy to a lend, Plasma can perform this function, The plasma opening switch ( POS) has been studied for more than two decades. Though advances have been made, success with the conventional plasma opening snitch has been limited, The plasma opening snitch concept described here has the potential to incr ease the power achieved with inductive energy storage pulsed-power systems. This system is also command-triggered. Major improvements in performance a nd command-triggering both require control of the plasma conductor, This pa per shows the design of a system that uses magnetic fields to control the p lasma, An externally applied magnetic field clears plasma from the transmis sion line, For maximum power, efficiency, and accurate pulse shaping, the p lasma must be cleared from most of the transmission line conductor spacing. The goal of the system described here is to clear more than 60% of the gap . This is much more than present performance levels, This paper discusses t he operation of plasma opening sn itches, and the ways this snitch design o vercomes some of the limitations, Because of the importance of magnetic fie ld penetration into the plasma, a model for field penetration is presented, The design of a terawatt-level system is shown, and the mechanism to reduc e the trigger power is described. Particle-in-cell simulations of the trigg ered opening are shown.