Rimfire: A six megavolt laser-triggered gas-filled switch for PBFA 2
Abstract
A new multiple stage laser-triggered SF6 spark gap was developed, which performed well in tests at nearly 6 megavolts and half a megampere. It has survived many hundreds of shots between 5 and 5.7 MV. A 25 millijoule ultraviolet laser pulse arriving in its trigger gap reliably closes the whole switch in 20 nanoseconds with 0.4 ns 1-sigma jitter. The closing time has a low dependence on the applied voltage, about 0.9 ns/% of self-break voltage. For a 10 mJ laser pulse, the jitter is 1.5 ns and the slope is 1.0 ns/%. No prefires occurred; the estimated prefire rate at 90% of self-breaking voltage is less than 0.1%. The switch inductance is 400 nanohenries, of which about 100 nh comes from the spark channels. The switch is 68 cm long and 61 cm in diameter.
- Publication:
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Presented at the 5th IEEE Pulsed Power Conf
- Pub Date:
- 1985
- Bibcode:
- 1985pupo.confQ....H
- Keywords:
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- Fusion (Melting);
- Laser Outputs;
- Particle Accelerators;
- Particle Beams;
- Spark Gaps;
- Design Analysis;
- Plasma Power Sources;
- Power Supply Circuits;
- Switches;
- Plasma Physics