Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-zzh7m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T08:11:41.170Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Cutoff of the current in plasma opening switches

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 November 2012

SERGEY V. LOGINOV*
Affiliation:
Institute of High Current Electronics SB RAS, Tomsk 634055, Russia (loginov@oit.hcei.tsc.ru)

Abstract

The paper considers the erosion mechanism of operation of nano- and microsecond plasma opening switches (POSs). For this purpose, postulates of the well-known erosion model of the POS operation are reviewed and some remarks on its individual statements are discussed. A voltage scaling for a nanosecond switch with rarefied plasma (~1013 cm−3) is derived. It is shown that the peak voltage across the nanosecond switch on its opening is proportional to the switch conduction current. The formation of an erosion gap in a microsecond switch with high-density plasma (~1015 cm−3) is put to phenomenological analysis and a voltage scaling for the switch is obtained. It is found that in the microsecond switch, unlike the nanosecond switch, the peak voltage is inversely proportional to the switch conduction current.

Type
Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bergeron, K. D. 1976 Two-species flow in relativistic diodes near the critical field for magnetic insulation. Appl. Phys. Lett. 28 (6), 306308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Black, D. C., Commisso, R. J., Ottinger, P. F., Swanekamp, S. B. and Weber, B. V. 2000 Experimental determination of gap scaling in a plasma opening switch. Phys. Plasmas 7 (9), 37903796.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Commisso, R. J., Goodrich, P. J., Grossmann, J. M., Hinshelwood, D. D., Ottinger, P. F. and Weber, B. V. 1992 Characterization of a microsecond-conduction time plasma opening switch. Phys. Fluids B 4 (7), 23682376.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fruchtman, A. 1996 A vacuum sheath propagation along a cathode. Phys. Plasmas 3 (8), 31113115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fruchtman, A., Grossmann, J. M., Swanekamp, S. B. and Ottinger, P. F. 1999 Sheath propagation along the cathode of a plasma opening switch. IEEE Trans. Plasma. Sci. 27 (5), 14641467.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grossmann, J. M., Swanecamp, S. B., Ottinger, P. F., Commisso, R. J., Hinshelwood, D. D. and Weber, B. V. 1995 Gap formation processes in a high-density plasma opening switch. Phys. Plasmas 2 (1), 299309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loginov, S. V. 2009 Plasma opening switch operation scenario. IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 37 (10), 19301935.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loginov, S. V. 2011a Electron loss in microsecond megaampere plasma opening switches. IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 39 (12), 33863390.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loginov, S. V. 2011b Plasma dynamics in microsecond megaampere plasma opening switches. Phys. Plasmas 18 (10), 102104 (6 pp.).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meger, R. A., Commisso, R. J., Cooperstein, G. and Goldstein, S. A. 1983 Vacuum inductive store/pulse compression experiments on a high power accelerator using plasma opening switches. Appl. Phys. Lett. 42 (11), 943945.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neri, J. M., Boller, J. R., Ottinger, P. F., Weber, B. V. and Young, F. C. 1987 High-voltage, high-power operation of the plasma erosion opening switch. Appl. Phys. Lett. 50 (19), 13311333.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ottinger, P. F., Goldstein, S. A. and Meger, R. A. 1984 Theoretical modeling of the plasma erosion opening switch for inductive storage applications. J. Appl. Phys. 56 (3), 774784.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rix, W., Parks, D., Shanon, J., Thompson, J. and Waisman, E. 1991 Operation and empirical modeling of the plasma opening switch. IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 19 (2), 400407.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weber, B. V., Commisso, R. J., Cooperstein, G., Grossmann, J. M., Hinshelwood, D. D., Mosher, D., Neri, J. M., Ottinger, P. F. and Stephanakis, S. J. 1987 Plasma erosion opening switch research at NRL. IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 15 (6), 635648.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weingarten, A., Bernshtam, V. A., Fruchtman, A., Grabowski, C., Krasik, Y. E. and Maron, Y. 1999 Study of the effects of the prefilled-plasma parameters on the operation of a short-conduction plasma opening switch. IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 27 (6), 15961605.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Widner, M. M. and Poukey, J. W. 1976 Ion sheath motion in plasma-filled diodes. Phys. Fluids 19 (11), 18381840.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xu, X. and Wang, Y.-N. 2006 Magnetohydrodynamic simulation of a coaxial high-density plasma opening switch. IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 34 (4), 15291535.CrossRefGoogle Scholar