Ultra-violet triggered vacuum flashover of a water-vacuum interface as a low-inductance closing switch

Summary form only given, as follows. GSI is one of the two-prototype candidates for driving the future MAG3 Z-pinch load. It is a 640 kJ inductive generator, made of 4 fast Marxes in parallel, a water transmission line, a vacuum storage line and a plasma-opening switch. The plastic interface between the water transmission line and the vacuum storage inductor is used as a crowbar to avoid Marx damage due to reverse voltage. The large-area discharge at large radius provides a very low-inductance closing switch element. Also, the low current density can lower erosion rates of the electrodes. The arrangement of the system will be shown. The flashboard system which provides the triggering illumination will also be described. Equivalent interface circuit and UV triggering abilities will be presented as a function of the electric and magnetic fields.