Characterization of high power Pseudospark Plasma Switch (PSS)

The Pseudospark switch is able to control high voltage and high current discharges and operates at low pressure like Thyratron but much simpler in construction and does not suffer in electrodes wear. This switch is bipolar and has 100 % reverse current capability, much faster than Thyratron and has applications in pulse power modulators, linear accelerators, laser systems etc. Such switch has been developed at CEERI Pilani and tested in a demountable setup. For this switch, as a cold cathode based ferroelectric trigger source has also been developed and characterized. High dielectric material has been opted for such a source. The hold off voltage can be doubled if the gap of the electrodes is stacked to two single stage gaps. Such stack of two single stage switches has also been fabricated in a demountable setup. Switching behavior has been observed up to 23 kV and 7 kA in single stage. High voltage conditioning and characterization is still in progress. The paper includes the introduction with working principle, description of the demountable set up, simulation by TriComp, AMaze and OOPIC Pro (Without Comparison among them), and switching behavior.