Abstract:
Background The rapid advancement of high-power pulse technology towards practical application imposes higher demands on the self-breakdown stability of high-voltage gas switches.
Purpose This paper proposes a pre-ionization cathode switch concept, which utilizes an auxiliary annular blade edge to regulate initial electrons and an annular hemisphere to conduct the main current. A 300 kV-level pre-ionization annular cathode gas switch was designed.
Methods With a switch gap of 35 mm, the field enhancement factor at the blade edge of the pre-ionization switch was designed to be 6.2, resulting in a ratio of 3.2 compared to the field enhancement factor at the hemisphere. Experimental investigations on the breakdown characteristics under microsecond-level pulses were conducted.
Results The results indicated that in nitrogen at 0.5 MPa and a repetition rate of 1 Hz, the pre-ionization gas switch achieved an average breakdown voltage of 322.5 kV with an amplitude jitter of 0.44%. Compared to a pure annular hemispherical switch, the pre-ionization switch exhibited a 17.6% reduction in breakdown voltage and an 82% decrease in amplitude jitter.
Conclusions The experimental study demonstrates that this pre-ionization gas switch offers significant advantages in achieving high voltage and low jitter.
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