On the mechanism of the picosecond switching phenomenon in devices based on the open discharge with counter-propagating electron beams

Abstract

The subnanosecond breakdown stage in the kivotron, a switching device with counter-propagating electron beams based on the open discharge in helium, was experimentally studied. It was shown that the fast discharge stage arises when the discharge self-sustaining regime is ensured by the photoelectron emission from of the cathodes due to the resonant radiation, emitted by fast helium atoms that have large Doppler shifts with respect to the line center; as a result, the emitted radiation reaches the cathodes without imprisonment by the helium gas. Since the cross-section for the excitation of a helium atom with another (fast) helium atom increases rapidly with the energy of the fast atom, the duration of the breakdown stage strongly depends on the working voltage. The transient characteristic is modulated by microwave oscillations of ~4.4 GHz frequency generated during the discharge of kivotron self-capacitance through its self-induction. An increase in working pressure leads to suppression of oscillations. A switching time of 80 ps was achieved in a discharge circuit loaded to a resistance RL ⩾ 50 Ω. On decreasing the value of RL down to 10 Ω, the switching time increases to about 100 ps at 1.5 kA current. A minimum switching time that can be achieved via kivotron design optimization is estimated to be about 35 ps.