Inductively generated, high voltage pulse using an electron beam controlled opening switch

An electron beam controlled opening switch with a conduction period of ∼1 μs has been used in an inductive store system to generate a 280-kV, 60-ns full width at half-maximum voltage pulse across an open circuit by interrupting a 10-kA discharge. The switch was pressurized to 5 atm with a 99:1 mixture of CH4:C2F6. Degraded voltage performance was obtained with pure CH4 or N2. These results support the conjecture that a judicious choice of gas mixture can lead to optimization of such an opening switch in a parameter regime of interest to pulsed power applications.