Shot-to-shot operation stability of a triggered multiple gap switch for capacitive energy storages with a charging voltage of up to 100 kV and an energy output time of the order of 100 ns

The results of studies on the shot-to-shot stability of a six-channel seven-gap spark switch are presented. A switch was created to turn on a capacitive energy storage with a charging voltage of up to 100 kV and the energy output time of about 100 ns. The working environment of the spark gap is air at atmospheric pressure. In the triggered mode, the breakdown delay time of all the gaps of the switch relatively to the triggering voltage pulse was measured and the standard deviation of the delay time (jitter) was calculated by varying the charging voltages and the rise rate of the triggering voltage. The jitter is realized less than 1 ns at a charging voltage of 90-100 kV and a triggering voltage rise rate of ~650 kV/µs. The jitter of the switch increases with decreasing the rise rate of the triggering voltage. For instance, when a charging voltage of 100 kV, the jitter exceeds 20 ns at a triggering voltage rise rate of ~200 kV/µs and the jitter exceeds 30 ns at a triggering voltage rise rate of ~100 kV/µs. To reduce jitter in the case of using triggering pulses with a low rise rate, blade electrodes were introduced into the switch, which ensured the ignition of a corona discharge in the switch gaps during the charging process of the capacitive energy storage. It is shown that when the triggering pulse rate is 100-200 kV/µs, the corona discharge reduces jitter by 2-3 times.

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