A Triggered Gas-Filled Metal–Ceramic Spark Gap with a High Current Rise Rate and Stable Operation

A triggered gas-filled three-electrode metal–ceramic РГУ-01М spark gap with a field distortion is described. This device is intended for use as a nanosecond switch. Spark gaps operating within voltage ranges of 15–30 and 30–60 kV have been developed, manufactured, and tested. The operation delay with respect to the trigger pulse is 60 × 10 ns. Life tests at a pulse repetition rate of 1.1 Hz have shown that the parameters of spark gaps do not deteriorate after the total number of operations of up to 3 × 106, which corresponds to a total charge of 4.5 × 104 C. The probability of a breakdown during life tests was 10–4. A batch of 20 spark gaps has been manufactured for the operation in a pulse voltage generator for supplying the discharge in a large-volume pulsed CO2 laser. The test results confirm the stability of the parameters of the devices in the batch.