A Low-Jitter Self-Break Repetitive Multi-Stage Gas Switch

A megavolt low-jitter self-break repetitive gas switch is developed by the use of the corona stabilization and the multi-stage structure in this paper. This switch is multi-stage, consisting of one corona stabilization stage and subsequent rimfire stages. The corona stabilization stage breakdowns first, then the subsequent rimfire stages are self-fired by the over-voltage from the closure of the corona stabilization stage. SF6 is used in the switch. It has been proven by experiment that the multi-stage gas switch, which consists of one 1.3-cm gap corona stabilization stage and five 0.5-cm gap rimfire stages, can operate at repetition rate frequency (PRF) of 50 Hz with a voltage jitter less than 2% in 2000 discharges. The breakdown voltage of this multi-stage switch reaches 770 kV and the single discharge current is 8.50 kA at 4 bars. Published by AIP Publishing.