A High-Average Power Self-Break Closing Switch for High Repetition Rate Applications

Spark-gap switches are one of the most important components in pulsed power applications, and the paper describes a simple, high repetition rate, high average power self-break switch that has been developed for use in a EMP generator based on a 0.5 MV Tesla transformer. Under normal conditions (i.e. without a gas flush), switches have a voltage recovery time of the order of milliseconds, with reproducible results normally being difficult to obtain above a repetition rate of about 100 Hz. Various techniques is however available by which the repetition rate can be raised to hundreds of hertz and beyond. The self-break spark gap outlined in the paper works on the principle of corona-stabilisation, which occurs when one of the gap electrodes is highly stressed and produces a non-uniform electric field in the presence of an electronegative gas, e.g. SF₆