Characterization of a pseudospark switch triggered by a corona-plasma electrode

A new pseudospark triggering technique using a corona-plasma electrode to feed electrons into one of the pseudospark hollow electrodes is described. When a fast rising voltage pulse is applied to the corona-plasma electrode, electrons are emitted at the gas-dielectric-grid interface by field emission. These initial electrons are used to trigger a pseudospark switch in a variety of configurations. Investigations of the high repetition rate possibilities of this pseudospark triggering technique have been performed up to a repetition rate frequency of 1 kHz. During this investigation, a cumulative number of shots higher than 10/sup 8/ has been achieved. Thus, the corona-plasma trigger appears as a low cost, simple, efficient and reliable technique for the development of long life, high PRF pseudospark switches.