Cutoff of the current in plasma opening switches

The paper considers the erosion mechanism of operation of nano- and microsecond plasma opening switches (POSs). For this purpose, postulates of the well-known erosion model of the POS operation are reviewed and some remarks on its individual statements are discussed. A voltage scaling for a nanosecond switch with rarefied plasma (~10¹³ cm^-3) is derived. It is shown that the peak voltage across the nanosecond switch on its opening is proportional to the switch conduction current. The formation of an erosion gap in a microsecond switch with high-density plasma (~10¹⁵ cm^-3) is put to phenomenological analysis and a voltage scaling for the switch is obtained. It is found that in the microsecond switch, unlike the nanosecond switch, the peak voltage is inversely proportional to the switch conduction current.