An alternative high-voltage switch consisting of gas discharge tubes (GDTs) for high-power pulse applications

The high-voltage switch used in the exploding foil initiator system (EFIS), generally a triggered spark gap, plays a key role in converting the electrical energy from the high-voltage capacitor to the metallic bridge foil. In this paper, a kind of high-voltage switch consisting of two gas discharge tubes (GDTs) was proposed to realize the function of the triggered spark gap. With the help of multi-physics analysis software, the conduction mechanism of the switch was first investigated, and simulation results reveal that the switch can work under a single, positive, high-voltage trigger pulse within a very short time, and two GDTs are broken down successively. Then, the electrical characteristics of the switch were studied at a series of applied voltages ranging from 1300 to 2000 V, and experimental results show that (1) the current peak increases with the rise of applied voltage linearly, (2) the switch resistance is almost constant after the switch closes, and (3) adding an additional GDT in a parallel way has little influence on the current peak. Finally, micro-chip metallic bridge foils developed by micro-electro-mechanical system technologies were utilized to validate the possibility of applying the switch in EFIS, and the results indicate that the metallic bridge foils can be totally exploded by operating the switch. All the results make it clear that the switch can be used to replace the traditional triggered spark gaps.