Study of Candidate Insulating Materials for Use in Shock Wave Switches

One challenge in high power switching is to have a compact switch, which can hold off high voltages and close rapidly at the proper time. Most high power switches are large or complicated, such as triggered spark gaps. Typical opening switches are also not compact and often have too long switching time. It has been shown previously that certain insulating materials undergo a drastic change in conductivity under shock loading. Using such a material could greatly reduce the size of a switch. We will report on our continuing studies of different candidate materials for shock wave switches.