Investigation of spark gap discharge in a regime of very high repetitition rate

It is our interest to design and develop a high power pulser system employing microplasma discharge in a spark gap system. The type of discharge generates short electric pulses capable of both the characteristics of high repetition rate and fast rise time. Such a switch pulser has wide applications in the industry. An efficient electrical discharge in the spark gap is very important for the switching operation. The regime of operation utilizes the residual plasma in the inter pulse recovery of the spark gap to increase the repetition rate. Therefore, the mechanisms of the discharge in a controlled manner, such as the plasma discharge by the arc channel, the dielectric recovery process as well as residual plasma in the post arc period are of great importance to ensure the high repetition rate. The aforementioned mechanisms are established through optimization of the circuit element parameters such as the electrode geometry, the gap distance, the gas pressure, the gas type as well as the applied voltage and current ratings.