Design of a Command-Triggered Plasma Opening Switch for Terawatt Applications
Abstract
Inductive energy storage pulsed power systems can have high energy density, leading to smaller, less expensive systems. The crucial element of an inductive energy storage system is the opening switch. In microsecond and nanosecond pulsed power systems the plasma opening switch has been in use for more than twenty years. Though widely studied, application of the plasma opening switch (POS) has been limited in both performance and understanding. The development of the triggered switch is aimed to address three important areas. First, complete de-coupling of the closed phase and the opening phase will allow improved performance, especially at longer conduction times. Second, the simplified physics allows for easier modeling because of a better-defined geometry. Third, naturally, triggering will reduce jitter of the output pulse. Improving performance will allow longer conduction time, and triggering will negate the naturally increased self-operation jitter at longer conduction time.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1999
- Accession Number
- ADA638827
Entities
People
- C. W. Mendel Jr.
- D. B. Seidel
- M. E. Savage
- R. W. Shoup
Organizations
- Sandia National Laboratories