0.5-mA vacuum closing switch

S. Bower; K. Cook; R. Keyse; F. J. Jones

doi:10.1117/12.354231

23 July 1999 0.5-mA vacuum closing switch

S. Bower, K. Cook, R. Keyse, F. J. Jones

Proceedings Volume 3492, Third International Conference on Solid State Lasers for Application to Inertial Confinement Fusion; (1999) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.354231
Event: Third International Conference on Solid State Lasers for Application to Inertial Confinement Fusion, 1998, Monterey, CA, United States

Abstract

For several decades the mercury cathode ignitron has been the most common switch choice for high voltage very high current applications. Such devices were capable of operation at voltages of typically up to 20kV and currents of 200kA providing they were carefully operated and maintained. However, in recent years the emergence of a number of specific applications with current and voltage requirements in excess of these levels, and increasing opposition to the use of mercury on environmental grounds, have defined a requirement for a switch of enhanced capability which does not use a mercury cathode. This paper outlines a program ofwork which has been undertaken at EEV to develop such a switch for operation at 24kV, 500kA, 130C/shot. The development progressed by the design, construction and testing of devices in a sequential manner, with design changes being made at each stage following post mortem analysis ofthe preceding iteration. This process has resulted in a device which has recently demonstrated operation at 24kV, 54OkA, 170C/shotover a test of several hundred shots duration.

Citation Download Citation

S. Bower, K. Cook, R. Keyse, and F. J. Jones "0.5-mA vacuum closing switch", Proc. SPIE 3492, Third International Conference on Solid State Lasers for Application to Inertial Confinement Fusion, (23 July 1999); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.354231

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