Study of the breakdown phase in a pseudospark switch. I. Basis experiments and crude model

A transparent and compact pseudospark prototype was built to analyze the physical processes of pseudospark breakdown. It allows accurate measurements of the current and gap voltage during the collapse of the switch impedance. This led to a surprising result-the pseudospark impedance follows the same time-evolution law as the high pressure spark-gaps. However, electronic collision processes are of a different nature. A crude theoretical model based on plasma relations is proposed to solve this contradiction. This model shows how the current is controlled by the azimuthal magnetic field it induces. However, discrepancies still remain. A more sophisticated distribution of the field and current lines is assumed and investigated in a companion paper