Laser Triggered Stability and Time Delay Characteristics of Laser Triggered Vacuum Switch

As one of the most important control devices in pulse power technology, the traditional form of electricity triggered vacuum switch is difficult to meet the application requirements in some special fields. Thus, the laser-triggered form is adopted to get shorter conduction time delay and higher trigger accuracy. However, the related theoretical research about laser triggered vacuum switch (LTVS) is still at the initial stage. In order to find out the influence affecting factors on of the time delay characteristics and jitter time of LTVS, this paper constructed a high-voltage and heavy-current LTVS experimental platform. The influences of the trigger laser energy, the working voltage, different trigger electrode polarity configurations and different distance of electrodes are examined. Moreover, the trigger and the conduction mechanism of LTVS are analyzed. The experimental results show that within a certain rang, time delay and jitter time of LTVS can be reduced by such means as increasing trigger laser energy, increasing the main gap voltage and adopting the cathode trigger mode. The experiment conclusion has an important significance on optimization of LTVS. © 2017, The editorial office of Transaction of China Electrotechnical Society. All right reserved.