Closing/opening switch for inductive energy storage applications

A magnetically delayed vacuum switch operating sequentially in a closing mode and then in an opening mode enables the design of a compact electron-beam generator based on an inductive energy store and having only a single switch. Furthermore, the system can be entirely vacuum insulated, with no power feedthrough requiring low inductance or operating at high-impulse voltage levels. Feasibility of the unique power-switching configuration has been explored theoretically, experimentally, and computationally. In a proof-of-principle experiment, a voltage impulse twice the magnitude of the DC charge voltage was observed at a power level of 20 MW. A computational model of the experiment produced results consistent with the experiment, and furthermore, predicted the possibility of achieving much higher power levels in an optimally configured system.<>