Long-life, repetitive-pulse switch for lasers

This program is the first phase of the development of a scalable, long life, high pressure, closing switch for use in repetitively pulsed high voltage systems. The objectives were to develop a conceptual switch design and to perform experiments to establish the feasibility of the switch for varying voltage/pulse life. To fulfill the requirements a switch was conceived with the features of: a high pressure gas fill, for high voltage holdoff and fast current rise; a discharge formation control scheme to generate a uniform discharge that will minimize filamentation and arcing; a linear (50 to 100 cm length) geometry compatible with transverse-discharge lasers. The first part of this program was directed toward delineation of the important switch design parameters and toward the design of the experimental switch. Areas reviewed for the first part were uniform discharge growth at high pressure, basic data for the gases under consideration, and preionization ion density requirements. For the second part of the program an experimental device was built and experiments were run to determine the switch characteristics.