Behavior of a Spark Gap Pulser at High Repetition Rate

Behavior of a Spark Gap Pulser at High Repetition Rate

Operation of a unique pulser system using a miniaturized spark gap geometry is described in this article. The important features of the pulser system are high power handling capability accompanied by ultrashort pulses of few nanoseconds (ns) pulsewidths, few hundred picoseconds (ps) rise time and a very high pulse repetition rate (PRR) exceeding 1MHz. Although the gaseous breakdown at the large gap sizes has long been well established, the breakdown in microgaps is still not sufficiently explored. The switching action of the spark gap employing discharges in microgaps or microplasma discharges unlike commonly used high voltage and high current spark gap discharges has been explored for the high repetition rate. Considerable attention has been focused on the important properties and insights of the discharge channel gap, voltage recovery process and post spark discharge period for stable and efficient performance of the pulser system. In parallel, theoretical analysis has been carried out using a PSpice simulation for optimization of several circuit parameters to drive the pulser system. Theoretical calculation of the system efficiency and PRR are thoroughly studied and presented through this simulation.

Operation of a unique pulser system using a miniaturized spark gap geometry is described in this article. The important features of the pulser system are high power handling capability accompanied by ultrashort pulses of few nanoseconds (ns) pulsewidths, few hundred picoseconds (ps) rise time and a very high pulse repetition rate (PRR) exceeding 1MHz. Although the gaseous breakdown at the large gap sizes has long been well established, the breakdown in microgaps is still not sufficiently explored. The switching action of the spark gap employing discharges in microgaps or microplasma discharges unlike commonly used high voltage and high current spark gap discharges has been explored for the high repetition rate. Considerable attention has been focused on the important properties and insights of the discharge channel gap, voltage recovery process and post spark discharge period for stable and efficient performance of the pulser system. In parallel, theoretical analysis has been carried out using a PSpice simulation for optimization of several circuit parameters to drive the pulser system. Theoretical calculation of the system efficiency and PRR are thoroughly studied and presented through this simulation.