A plasma opening switch controlled by a drifting plasma

Summary form only given. At the conceptual level the density controlled opening switch (DCOS) under investigation is a vacuum device in which both conduction and opening mechanisms are controlled by an externally injected plasma. The development of the DCOS has involved a substantial program of experiments focused on (1) sustaining control over conduction with an externally injected plasma for multimicroseconds at a specified current density, (2) scaling to large total currents by increasing switch area, suppressing magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) effects, and maintaining specified current density, and (3) achieving controllability of the injected plasma capable of initiating an opening mechanism when the injected plasma is actively decreased. This experimental program has already achieved a number of important results. Primary among these is controlled conduction at a current density of 120 A/cm² for several microseconds without late-time gap closure. Another important result has been the experimental demonstration of a successful method for active control of the injected plasma pulse using a fast J×B kicker coil