Design of correction electrodes for high-voltage vacuum-dielectric interfaces

High-voltage vacuum insulators often set the limits on energy transfer in pulsed power systems. The ideal vacuum interface has a uniform electric field distribution on the insulator well below breakdown levels and an impedance matched to the pulse generator. This paper describes a procedure to design correction electrodes for the dielectric region of a cylindrical interface using a numerical field solution code. The approach has application to both pulsed and steady-state systems. The method is illustrated with a design for a 10 TW, 6.5 MV pulsed power generator using six correction electrodes. The design minimizes the interface impedance and gives less than 10% field variation along the insulator surface.