Vacuum Opening Switch Development

摘要

Results are present from an experimental and theoretical investigation of the operation of the Density Controlled Opening Switch (DCOS), a potential long conduction time opening switch candidate for induction store drivers of advanced high current simulators. The DCOS has two conduction modes of practical interest: a self-opening mode and a mode suitable for control of opening by external gating of the injected ion source. With available experimental hardware these modes were studied with conduction times < 2 ms, electron current densities up to 2000 A/cm2 and total currents up to (caret) 200 kA. Scaling models for both modes were developed incorporating results of experiments and simulations. The drop of switch impedance observed at later times was identified as due to radial expansion of the current channel rather than gap closure by density electrode plasmas. A second task of the program demonstrated efficient power coupling to a load through an opened low density erosion switch on the DECADE-2 module.