A survey of laser initiated gaseous discharge studies for pulsed power

Summary form only given. Laser triggered switching has been studied and used since the early 1960´s. [1, 2] Despite the long development history of laser triggered switching, electrical triggering remains far more common in compact pulsed power systems. Laser triggered switching offers performance and operational advantages over electrical triggering provided its limitations can be overcome or mitigated. This paper reviews laser triggered switch technology development. Early work focused on the demonstration of the concept of laser triggering. [1] By the 1980´s, diagnostic and modeling tools had matured sufficiently to support detailed analysis of the evolution of current carrying channels from a seed electron population. [3] Laser triggering also began to be implemented on systems requiring low jitter. [4] More recently, studies have explored the possibility of using laser triggered switching with compact pulsed power systems. [5] Advances in laser technologies have also opened up new options for the implementation of laser triggering systems. The paper discusses some of the progress made based on laser technology.