Time Jitter Study of a Small $V/n$ Switch

Switching time jitter is one of the important properties one has to consider when selecting a closing switch for a pulsed-power system. In this paper, we study the time jitter of a field-distortion three-electrode switch, realized as a V/n switch, where the trigger electrode takes a voltage equal to the main voltage divided by a number n; in our case, n = 5. The V/n switch was designed, constructed, and tested for a hold-off voltage of 40 kV. Subnanosecond time jitter was achieved, but the system parameters need to be carefully chosen to avoid misfires.