Parasitic Current in a Pseudospark Switch at Different Electric Circuits for Powering the Auxiliary Glow Discharge

One of the trigger systems for the pseudospark switches is based on a usage of the low-current auxiliary glow discharge with hollow cathode and hollow anode. The electrodes of the auxiliary discharge are often placed inside the grounded cathode cavity of the main high-voltage electrode gap. The space of the auxiliary discharge communicates with the space of the main cathode cavity via the aperture in the flat part of one of the trigger electrodes. Then the characteristic feature of such an arrangement is the availability of the so-called parasitic current, which flows via the aperture to the grounded cathode. This paper deals with the investigation of the features of the formation of the parasitic current at different electric circuits for powering the auxiliary discharge.