Application of microplasma discharge in a spark gap for high repetitive switching

The electrical breakdown in a spark gap for repetitive switching has been a long research interest. For this purpose, microplasma discharge is implemented in the spark gap which is further integrated inside a coaxial transmission line. This work addresses important physical properties and insights of the microplasma discharge, to be optimized, such as plasma generation in a spark channel, dielectric recovery process, and residual plasma in the postspark discharge period. Although understanding the microplasma discharge is the primary goal, considerable attention has been focused on an external circuit scheme to drive the discharge system at a high repetition rate.