Long Pulse E-Beam Controlled Switch: Description of Apparatus and Initial Results

摘要

There exists an interest in the application of externally controlled high pressure, volume discharges to high power switching. Important applications involve opening switches for both single and repetitively pulsed, high power, inductive generators. Such discharges have great potential for these applications because they can recover rapidly to the original highly resistive state of the gas once the external ionizing agent is removed. Several authors have reported on experiments and theoretical investigations in which an electron beam is used as the external agent to sustain the diffuse discharge. The design of an inductive store system that employs and electron-beam controlled switch to produce a 280 kV, 10 kA, 60 ns full width at half maximum pulse is described. Included in the design are the electron-beam generator, electron-beam diode, and electron-beam controlled switch. The voltage is generated across an open circuit load. These non-optimized results agree with predictions from a previously described design procedure.