Extended lifetime railgap switch

摘要

An improved railgap switch for use with pulse discharge gas lasers. The blade of the prior art railgap switches is replaced by an electrode having an "T" shaped cross section which provides two edges along which arcs are generated. The thickness of the "T" cross section near the edges at which arcs are formed is relatively uniform and oriented at a constant distance from the second electrode so that the thickness and distance remains unchanged despite ablation of the edges of the electrode. As a consequence the electrical properties of the switch are not altered significantly by ablation caused by repetitive operation of the switch.