Design and development of a high current pseudospark switch for pulse power applications

Abstract

Recently it has been realized that for high current applications a radial channel Pseudospark Switch (PSS) is a right choice whereas a coaxial PSS is better suited for medium power applications. An effort has been made to design and develop a high current PSS for pulse power applications and the initial results of the same are presented in this paper. It utilizes linear discharge apertures (length greater than width) in the electrodes geometry. The linear aperture helps in significantly higher current conduction without discharge constriction. The electrostatic simulations of the geometry have been carried out using Omni Track code to analyze voltage penetration through the linear apertures. To study the voltage profile, discharge phenomenon and dynamics of the charge particles in the radial channel PSS, a particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation code “Oopic-Pro” has also been used. The simulated results have been applied as a feedback to design and develop this PSS on the specified parameters. A demountable high current pseudospark switch with radial discharge channel is ready for experimentation.