Influence of Electrode Configurations on the Interruption Capacity of Laser Triggered Vacuum Switch

The electrode configurations have an important effect on the interruption performances of laser triggered vacuum switch (LTVS), but few works pay attention to it so far. The objective of this article is to study the interruption capacity of LTVS with different electrode configurations. The 3-D simulation models of axial magnetic field (AMF) electrode and transverse magnetic field (TMF) electrode are built up, and the magnetic field distributions are calculated and compared. The test platform is set up based on a detachable vacuum chamber. The interruption capacity of LTVS with different electrode structures, electrode spacings, and polarity configurations is studied and analyzed. The test results prove that, compared to the AMF electrode, the interruption capacity of LTVS under the TMF electrode is obviously better, but it is more susceptible to the electrode spacing, and gradually decreases with the increase of electrode spacing. Influence of polarity configuration on the interruption capacity of LTVS is closely related to the target material. The LTVS with KCl + Ti under the positive polarity configuration shows better interruption capacity than negative polarity configuration. The works in this article provide references for the design of LTVS products.