Polarity effect on triggered vacuum switch with multi-rod system

The electrostatic field near the trigger pin of multi-rod triggered vacuum switch (TVS) was simulated with ANSOFT. Several experiments were carried out under different working polarities. The relationship between the working polarities and the time delay was obtained， and the influence of electrostatic field on the dissipation of initiate plasma was analyzed. The simulation results show that， when the trigger voltage is positive， the electric field strength near the cathode surface is enhanced， which facilitates the formation of cathode spots， and reduces the turn-on delay and jitter. The experimental results are in accordance with the simulation results，proving that the TVS works reliably with small delay and jitter in the positive working polarity. 