Micromachined Planar Triggered Spark Gap Switch

Author

Baginski, T.A. ; Dean, Robert N. ; Wild, E.J.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Auburn Univ., Auburn, AL, USA

Volume

1

Issue

9

fYear

2011

Firstpage

1480

Lastpage

1485

Abstract

High voltage switches capable of operating at high speeds with high current levels are used in a variety of applications in commercial and government systems. This paper discusses the fabrication and characterization of a novel micromachined planar triggered spark gap switch. The switch provides a low cost alternative to conventional triggered spark gap switches. The structure is designed for direct integration into the strip-line geometries used in a conventional capacitive discharge unit. The geometry of the device was selected to minimize parasitic impedances associated with conventional firing circuits.

Keywords

high-speed techniques; high-voltage techniques; micromachining; pulsed power switches; spark gaps; commercial systems; conventional capacitive discharge unit; conventional firing circuits; government systems; high voltage switches; micromachined planar triggered spark gap switch; parasitic impedances; strip-line geometry; triggered spark gap switches; Capacitors; Discharges; Electrodes; Explosives; Sparks; Substrates; Switches; High speed; high voltage switch; low parasitic impedance; low turn-on voltage; microelectromechanical systems;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

2156-3950

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TCPMT.2011.2142399

Filename

5975207