Investigation of a plasma opening switch using a gas discharge plasma source

Summary form only given. A coaxial, Marshall type plasma gun is currently being used as a plasma source in an experiment with a plasma opening switch (POS). It has been suggested that a single, gas-driven plasma injector can replace one or more flashboards. The initial experiments are underway with a prototype gun, in which gas is injected into the system with a suitably modified automobile fuel injector. The experiments are conducted on a system which can supply 200 kA in one microsecond. Using the gas-driven injector, measurements of the exhaust plasma and POS performance have been made for various gases.