Review of opening switch technology

Review of opening switch technology is given. Classification of open switches applied in pulsed power technology is presented. The most familiar opening switches are fuses. It is shown that a strong oxidizer (H2O2 in water), especially in combination with wires of Al, increases the maximum voltage. Thermally driven opening switches are the result of attempts to achive the speed and economy of fuse opening switches but with added advantage of repetitive operation. The search for coordinate materials for this type of opening switch is in its infancy and it is difficult to predict how successful such a switch may be. Explosive opening switches offer the possibility of precise timing and permit the delay before explosion to be controlled independently of current flowing through the switch. Plasma guns, dense plasma focus and MHD switches are also considered. Diffuse discharge opening switches are attractive for repetitive operation. The plasma erosion switch operates on a very short time scale of 10 ns to 100 ns, both to regard to conduction and opening times