A Particle-in-Cell Simulation of Plasma Opening Switch

The plasma opening switch (POS)1 is a vacuum switching device used in modern pulsed power apparatus for physical and industrial applications. In the POS, a plasma is first injected into the A-K gap to conduct large current of hundred to thousand kiloamperes driven by Marx-generator-type or other pulsed power sources for hundred to thousand nanoseconds. Then the POS opens by means of a kinetic process that is not very clear at present, and converts the current to a load with voltage or power multiplication.