Opening Switch by Gas-Puff Z-Pinch Plasma

The pulsed power generator with an inductive energy storage system is very attractive because of its size and weight, as compared with the conventional pulsed power generator which consists of a Marx bank and a water capacitor. However, there are few experiments being conducted now of applications using the inductive storage system because a repetitive opening switch which can interrupt high current rapidly has not been developed. Here, a repetitive opening switch using a gas-puff z-pinch is proposed and studied. After a capacitor (the primary energy storage device) is charged, an annular puff of Ar gas is injected between two electrodes. The annular gas starts to discharge when the pressure between the electrodes reaches a threshold pressure. The inductance of the plasma then increases due to both the pinch phenomena occurring in the plasma and the MHD instability of pinched plasmas, and soon the rapid interruption of current occurs. The gas-puff z-pInch can be operated not only as an opening switch but also as a triggered closing switch.