Characteristics of triggered vacuum switch with single axial magnetic electrode for high frequency current interruption

For the purpose of repetitive pulsed power applications, specially designed TVSs were tested under different high frequency currents in this contribution. Two TVSs named TVS-1 and TVS-2 respectively were designed to investigate the high frequency current breaking characteristics with or without an axial magnetic field (AMF) aid. The TVS with AMF at the cup-like anode can generate a magnetic field parallel to the arc column by flowing current itself. Triggered Vacuum Switches show promise for use in high-power, high-current and high-frequency conversion and switching circuits. The V/I characteristic results show that the arc voltage increases with increasing the arc current. The maximum breaking current has a sharp decreasing trend with increasing the current frequency from zero to 1 kHz, while the curves tend to be flat after 1 kHz. The AMF in the anode gives a great aid to decrease the arc voltage and increase the high frequency breaking capability of the TVS.