Developing highly efficient and electric-field-sensitive fiber-waveguide evanescent couplers.

The slab-coupled optical fiber sensor (SCOS) is an innovative electric field detector with an ultrawide measuring range and a millimeter-level package size. The core sensing part of the SCOS is a fiber-waveguide evanescent coupler (FWEC) that directly determines the device's main performance specifications. This paper presents an investigation of the spectrum characteristics of FWECs with various structural and curing parameters. Methods for fabricating an FWEC with higher resonant depth, narrower free spectral range, and sharper spectrum slope are determined based on the experimental results. Z-cut lithium-niobate FWEC and Z-cut lithium-tantalate FWEC of about ${{1}} \times {0.5} \times {0.3}\;{\rm{mm}}^3$ are fabricated on this basis. Excellent coupling characteristics are achieved in both, according to the relevant spectra. Electric field tests indicate that the peak wavelengths shift linearly with the external AC field amplitude by 0.11 nm/(kV/cm) and 0.24 nm/(kV/cm), respectively. Three optimization methods are proposed to enhance performance: optimizing material selection, adding an antenna structure, and adjusting the calibration method. The results of this work may provide workable guidance for developing miniature, all-dielectric electric field sensors.

Free microparticles-An inducing mechanism of pre-firing in high pressure gas switches for fast linear transformer drivers.

Microparticle initiated pre-firing of high pressure gas switches for fast linear transformer drivers (FLTDs) is experimentally and theoretically verified. First, a dual-electrode gas switch equipped with poly-methyl methacrylate baffles is used to capture and collect the microparticles. By analyzing the electrode surfaces and the collecting baffles by a laser scanning confocal microscope, microparticles ranging in size from tens of micrometers to over 100 µm are observed under the typical working conditions of FLTDs. The charging and movement of free microparticles in switch cavity are studied, and the strong DC electric field drives the microparticles to bounce off the electrode. Three different modes of free microparticle motion appear to be responsible for switch pre-firing. (i) Microparticles adhere to the electrode surface and act as a fixed protrusion which distorts the local electric field and initiates the breakdown in the gap. (ii) One particle escapes toward the opposite electrode and causes a near-electrode microdischarge, inducing the breakdown of the residual gap. (iii) Multiple moving microparticles are occasionally in cascade, leading to pre-firing. Finally, as experimental verification, repetitive discharges at ±90 kV are conducted in a three-electrode field-distortion gas switch, with two 8 mm gaps and pressurized with nitrogen. An ultrasonic probe is employed to monitor the bounce signals. In pre-firing incidents, the bounce is detected shortly before the collapse of the voltage waveform, which demonstrates that free microparticles contribute significantly to the mechanism that induces pre-firing in FLTD gas switches.

A fully enclosed, compact standard lightning impulse generator for testing ultra-high-voltage-class gas-insulated switchgears with high capacitance.

At present, conducting standard lightning impulse (LI) tests in the field for gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) equipment is difficult because of the high capacitance of the test equipment and large circuit inductance of traditional impulse devices, which leads to a wavefront time T(f) ≥ 2.5 µs. A novel fully enclosed, compact standard LI generator for testing ultra-high-voltage-class GIS equipment with high capacitance is presented to solve the problem of T(f) exceeding the standard during LI voltage tests for actual large-sized equipment. The impulse generator is installed in a metal vessel filled with SF6 or SF6/N2 gas mixture at a pressure of 0.3-0.5 MPa, providing a more compact structure and a lower series inductance. A newly developed conical voltage sensor is used to accurately measure the output voltage waveform. Two test modes (via bushing docking and direct docking) for the GIS test based on the impulse generator are introduced. Calculation results show that the impulse generator can generate an LI test waveform following the present IEC standard for the test of equipment with capacitance >10,000 pF.

Note: Design and investigation of a multichannel plasma-jet triggered gas switch.

We described the fabrication and testing of a multichannel plasma-jet triggered gas switch (MPJTGS). A novel six-channel annular micro-plasma-gun was embedded in the trigger electrode to generate multichannel plasma jets as a nanosecond trigger pulse arrived. The gas breakdown in multiple sites of the spark gap was induced and fixed around jet orifices by the plasma jets. We tested the multichannel discharge characteristics of the MPJTGS in two working modes with charge voltage of 50 kV, trigger voltage of +40 kV (25 ns rise time), and trigger energy of 240 J, 32 J, and 2 J, respectively, at different working coefficients. Results show that the average number of discharge channels increased as the trigger energy increased, and decreased as the working coefficient decreased. At a working coefficient of 87.1% and trigger energy of 240 J, the average number of discharge channels in Mode II could reach 4.1.

A novel low-jitter plasma-jet triggered gas switch operated at a low working coefficient.

In this paper, we described the fabrication and testing of a novel plasma-jet triggered gas switch (PJTGS) operated at extremely low working coefficients with excellent triggered jitters. While the structure of the PJTGS is similar to that of a traditional three-electrode field-distortion gas switch, to improve its triggered performance we used a conical micro-plasma-gun with a needle-to-plate spark gap embedded in the trigger electrode. Applying a nanosecond pulse to the trigger electrode caused a spark discharge in the micro-plasma-gun. The electric field drove the discharge plasma to spray into the spark gap of the gas switch, causing fast breakdown. We tested the PJTGS with charging voltages of ±25 kV and a trigger voltage of +80 kV (5 ns rise time and 80 ns full width at half maximum) in two working modes. The PJTGS operated in Mode II had a lower triggered jitter and could be operated over a wider range of working coefficients than in Mode I under the same conditions. At working coefficients higher than 70%, we obtained sub-ns triggered jitters (<0.89 ns) from the PJTGS, at working coefficients lower than 50%, we obtained triggered jitters of 1.6-3.5 ns without no-fires or pre-fires. Even at a working coefficient of 27.4%, the PJTGS could still be triggered reliably with a delay time of 96.1 ns and a triggered jitter of 3.5 ns, respectively.