Operating Characteristics of a Heavy Current Three-electrode Gas Spark Switch

To meet the requirements of intense current electron accelerator,we researched and designed a kind of three electrode gas spark switch.Anti-pollution design was used in the switch,the outer housing of the switch was made of Cu and a metal baffle was used to prevent the top plate.These measures can prevent arc form approaching the insulated bracket as far as possible and increase the life of the switch.Furthermore,the operating characteristics of the three electrode gas spark switch were experimentally researched,including relationship between the self-breakdown characteristics and gas pressure,the time delay,jitter et al.the experimental results indicate that the operating ranges of the switch are 25%～94%,38%～86%,40%～88% and 44%～88% when the gas pressure are 0.10,0.15,0.20 and 0.25 MPa,respectively.And when the operating pressure is 0.25 MPa,the operating voltage is 40 kV which is about 88% of self-breakdown voltage;delay time,50 ns;jitter,1.28 ns;deviation,less than 3%.The switch has been applied in the intense electron-beam accelerators,and it works stably and reliably.