Discharge process and closure jitter of six-stage gas switch under pulsed trigger

Closure jitter versus voltage ratio and trigger voltage was experimentally measured for a six-stage gas switch. An ultra-violet fiber system was used to diagnose the discharge process influencing the closure jitter, and a pre-ionizing measure was employed to decrease the trigger voltage. It is found that the switch closure jitter declines exponentially with the product of trigger voltage and voltage ratio. The trigger gap accounts for 30%-40% of the closure jitter while the other five gaps account for 60%-70%. The trigger voltage and voltage ratio have more influences on the jitter of the trigger gap which breaks down first, than on that of the three gaps discharging subsequently, and hardly affects the last two gaps. For the switch with a voltage ratio greater than 57%, the pre-ionizing measure finally lowers the trigger voltage by over 10 kV.