Tests of 6-MV triggered switches on APPRM at SNL

Summary form only given. The Advanced Pulsed Power Research Module (APPRM) was created at Sandia National Laboratory (SNL) to serve as a test bed for the development of pulsed power technologies and components that could be used in future generation high power facilities. In the present configuration the test bed is comprised of a 56 stage, 850-kJ Marx generator that charges a 5.5-Ohm water insulated Intermediate Storage Capacitor (ISC) to more than 7 MV in /spl sim/1.5 us. The switches tested were located at the output end of the ISC where they connected the output to a 5.5-Ohm CuSO/sub 4/ resistive load. Several switches have been tested on APPRM. The first switch tested was an evolved version of the Sandia designed HERMES III switch. It consists of self-breakdown (cascade) section where the discharge current flows in several parallel channels, and a trigger section where the current flows through a single spark channel. The second switch tested was a Russian/Sandia Hybrid switch. The trigger section of the Hybrid switch, designed at High Current Electronics Institute (HCEI) in Tomsk, Russia, includes six HCEI composite electrodes connected in parallel to a triggered gap via a 4-uH series isolation inductor. The discharge current in the Hybrid switch trigger section flows in several parallel channels eliminating the single channel flow as in the Sandia switch trigger section. The last switch tested is a HCEI switch design where the trigger and cascade sections are comprised of HCEI composite electrodes. The design of the switches and results of these tests will be presented as well as the analysis and comparison of results.