Investigations of a high current linear aperture radial multichannel pseudospark switch

R P Lamba; V Pathania; B L Meena; H Rahaman; U N Pal; Ram Prakash

doi:10.1063/1.4932966

Investigations of a high current linear aperture radial multichannel pseudospark switch

Rev Sci Instrum. 2015 Oct;86(10):103508. doi: 10.1063/1.4932966.

Authors

R P Lamba¹, V Pathania², B L Meena², H Rahaman², U N Pal¹, Ram Prakash¹

Affiliations

¹ Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research, (AcSIR), CSIR-CEERI Campus, Pilani, Rajasthan, India.
² CSIR-Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute, Pilani, Rajasthan 333031, India.

PMID: 26520956
DOI: 10.1063/1.4932966

Abstract

In this paper, a high current linear aperture radial multichannel Pseudospark switch (LARM-PSS) is reported which has been analyzed for its high current characteristics. In order to enhance hold-off voltage and support hollow cathode effect for the ignition of the discharge in this configuration, the field penetration analysis through circular and linear apertures of the electrodes has been carried out. The linear apertures in the electrodes increase the current handling capacity than that of circular aperture electrodes without significant compromise of the hold-off capacity. The developed LARM-PSS switch is capable to hold voltage up to 25 kV at gas pressure between 10 and 50 Pa for hydrogen. The switch has been operated using a 800 nF capacitor bank and conducted an effective charge up to 1.5 C with peak switch current ∼20 kA at applied voltage 19 kV.