You are here

HIGH REPETITION RATE GLOW DISCHARGE CLOSING SWITCH DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

Award Information
Agency: Department of Defense
Branch: Missile Defense Agency
Contract: N/A
Agency Tracking Number: 4499
Amount: $488,000.00
Phase: Phase II
Program: SBIR
Solicitation Topic Code: N/A
Solicitation Number: N/A
Timeline
Solicitation Year: N/A
Award Year: 1988
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): N/A
Award End Date (Contract End Date): N/A
Small Business Information
4905 Hawkins Ne
Albuquerque, NM 87109
United States
DUNS: N/A
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 William M. Moeny
 (505) 345-8623
Business Contact
Phone: () -
Research Institution
N/A
Abstract

THE DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH POWER, HIGH REPETITION RATE CLOSING SWITCHES HAS RECENTLY BECOME IMPORTANT FOR MANY PULSED POWER APPLICATIONS. HISTORICALLY, HIGH REPETITION RATE SWITCHES FOR PULSED POWER APPLICATIONS HAVE EITHER BEEN SPARK GAPS OR THYRATRONS. THYRATRONS HAVE HIGH REPETITION RATES, BUT ARE LIMITED TO LOW VOLTAGES AND LOW CURRENT. CONVERSELY, SPARK GAPS CAN CARRY HIGH CURRENTS AND STAND-OFF HIGH VOLTAGES, BUT THE REPETITION RATE IS LOW. WE PROPOSE THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SWITCH THAT FILLS THE VOID BETWEEN THYRATRONS AND SPARK GAPS. WITH THE SELF-SUSTAINED UV PRE-IONIZED GLOW DISCHARGE SWITCH, WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO DEVELOP VOLTAGE STAND-OFFS OF 200-500 KV, CONDUCTION CURRENTS OF 200-500 KA, AND HIGH REPETITION RATES. OUR PROPOSAL IS BASED ON EXPERIMENTS THAT WE CONDUCTED FOR THE AIR FORCE WEAPONS LABORATORY STUDYING THE FEASIBILITY OF FAST AVALANCHE-CONTROLLED DISCHARGES FOR THE INITIATION OF PULSED HF LASERS. EXPERIENCE AND DATA FROM OUR UV-SUSTAINED GLOW DISCHARGE OPENING SWITCH PROGRAM IS ALSO DIRECTLY APPLICATIONAL. THE ANTICIPATED RESULTS OF PHASE I ARE THE DETERMINATION OF THE FEASIBILITY OF THE SWITCH FROM THE EXPERIMENTAL DEMONSTRATION OF GAS MIXTURES THAT YIELD SWITCH RATIOS GREATER THAN TWO.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

US Flag An Official Website of the United States Government