A Review on Megavolt Pulsed Switches and Their Time Delay Jitters

In large pulsed power drivers for the research of high-energy-density physics (HEDP) and high power electromagnetic (HPEM), megavolt pulsed gas switches are crucial and indispensable components that transfer energy and compress the pulse. Their working conditions and characteristics are remarkably different. Their time delay jitter under pulsed voltage is a key indicator that influences the pulsed power driver’s output waveform quality and stability. This article summarized the megavolt pulsed switches and their time delay jitters. First, the composition of the large pulsed power driver’s time delay and jitter and the influence of the megavolt switch are analyzed. Then, the configurations and working parameters such as the time delay jitter of three types of existent megavolt switches (self-breakdown, self-triggered, and externally triggered switches) are introduced. After summarizing the research progress of the time delay jitter characteristics of megavolt switches, the experimental, theoretical, and simulative approaches are discussed. The breakdown probability distribution model provides a tool for analyzing the megavolt switches’ time delay and jitter. Based on the framework of the probability distribution model and relevant experimental phenomena, the general methods to reduce the jitter in single-stage and multistage switches are extracted.