Wire explosion fed by a 32-kJ XRAM generator switched by semiconductor elements

High-energy wire explosions are used e.g. in electrothermal-chemical (ETC) loads. For the first time, a wire explosion fed by a 32-kJ four-stage XRAM generator which is switched uniquely by semiconductor elements has been achieved. The difficulty when using semiconductors is that wire explosions generate high-voltage peaks which can potentially destroy the semiconductor elements in an XRAM circuit. By using an improved version of the countercurrent commutation principle well-adapted to the switching requirements of the XRAM generator and by choosing molybdenum as the wire material, we could overcome the high-voltage difficulty and successfully explode a 4-cmlong, 250-??m-thick wire with 32 kJ of electric energy, lasting for an 18-ms plasma discharge.