High-Pressure Surface-Discharge Plasma Switches

Surface-discharge plasma switches operating at high gas pressures with gas discharge laser and resistive loads have been the subject of empirical investigations in recent years. The particular interest has been in the low-inductance uniform multichanneling evident in these switches, in conjunction with the high hold-off voltages that have been observed at multiatmosphere operating gas pressures. This paper will review the progress to date and present a theoretical model of the surface-discharge plasma switch that explains the observed data.