Low-Jitter Discharge of a Plasma-Jet Triggered Gas Switch at Low Working Coefficients

Abstract

Reducing the working coefficient of gas switch can effectively lower the prefires probability. This paper discusses in detail the discharge characteristics of a three-electrode plasma-jet triggered gas switch (PJTGS), especially at low working coefficients. The triggered discharge process of the PJTGS is analyzed. Plasma jets are observed and discussed with respect to trigger voltage, trigger energy, and gas pressure. In addition, the switch jitters at different conditions are investigated, including ground resistor, charging voltage, trigger energy, trigger voltage, and working coefficient. The results indicate that the height of the plasma jet increases with the increase of trigger voltage and energy, and decreases with the increase of gas pressure. At working coefficients higher than 75%, trigger voltage of +80 kV, and ground resistor of 100 \(\Omega \) , reliable subnanosecond jitters can be obtained with the charging voltages of ±25, ±30, ±40, and ±50 kV. When the working coefficients are between 50% and 28.1%, the switch jitters range from 1.6 to 3.5 ns. Even at the working coefficient of 28.1%, the PJTGS can still be triggered reliably with a switch jitter of 3.5 ns.