Abstract
Voltage scaling in a plasma opening switch is theoretically generalized depending on the conduction switch current. The scaling has been verified experimentally using the GIT-4 megaampere installation. It is found that the peak switch voltage depends nonmonotonically on the conduction current: a part with voltage increase for the switch conduction current less than ~1 MA is replaced by voltage decrease with further increase of the current to the level exceeding ~1 MA. The scaling changes due to different mechanisms of magnetic field penetration through the plasma: the switch operation regime with plasma erosion dispersal is replaced by the regime of plasma aggregation by increasing magnetic pressure. As a result, the pulse power of interruption current is restricted by the peak voltage reached at a switch current of ~1 MA. The detected switch voltage scaling has also been confirmed by approximation of experimental data obtained with megaampere facilities HAWK and DECADE.
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