High-Voltage Arc Interruption Study

摘要

In 1968 it was observed by the authors that an axial magnetic field applied to a vacuum-arc discharge in a coaxial diode was capable of extinguishing the discharge. A continuing effort to develop a high-voltage dc arc interrupter has resulted in a device capable of interrupting 300 amperes at 15 kilovolts. This device has been operated at repetition frequencies of several pulses per second. Over 300 pulses per second have been achieved at low power levels. The turn-on and turn-off times are, respectively, one and two microseconds. The pulse width is variable from about two to several hundred microseconds. Operation at voltages above 15 kilovolts has been prevented, primarily, by anode spots. With improved materials and vacuum techniques and modified geometries, operating voltages far above 15 kv should be possible. One of the uses for the interrupter is expected to be in high-power modulators. (Author)