Plasma instability in a laser controlled high-voltage switch for RADAN type electron accelerator

The paper presents the results experimental investigation of triggering a high-voltage gas gap by YAG: Nd3+ laser. The gas gap was used as the primary switch of a high-current pulsed e-beam RADAN-type accelerator. The operating regime with the instability and delay time appeared to be minimal was experimentally found. The developed laser controlled switch and the found operating regimes sustain the instability not more than 0.3 ns. The physical mechanisms determining the switch-on delay and the obtained level of instability are discussed. The processes on the ionization wave front seem to be determined mainly both by the absorption/excitation of gas atoms and the effects of a high-field domain proposed. Keywords: laser controlled switch, triggering stability.