High-reliability 50-kV switch with 532-nm laser triggering

Author

Beverly, Robert E.

Author_Institution

R.E. Beverly III & Assoc., Lewis Center, OH, USA

fYear

2013

fDate

16-21 June 2013

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

6

Abstract

A commercial trigatron switch (model SG-182) was modified for optical triggering. Redesign of the switch and implementation of laser triggering greatly reduces the probability of pre-firing and misfiring. Particular attention to details of the internal geometry, choice of electrode material and surface condition, and optimization of the purge-gas flow field results in a switch with greatly improved reliability. Laser triggering experiments with free-space beam transport are described, including measurements of breakdown characteristics and statistics, runtime and jitter, and optical emission from the spark.

Keywords

electric breakdown; gas-discharge tubes; reliability; switches; SG-182 model; breakdown characteristics; breakdown statistics; commercial trigatron switch; electrode material; free-space beam transport; internal geometry; jitter; laser triggering; optical emission; purge-gas flow field; reliability improvement; runtime; surface condition; voltage 50 kV; Electric breakdown; Laser beams; Lenses; Measurement by laser beam; Optical switches; Runtime;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Pulsed Power Conference (PPC), 2013 19th IEEE

Conference_Location

San Francisco, CA

ISSN

2158-4915

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PPC.2013.6627485

Filename

6627485