High-voltage and high-current automatic crowbar

Abstract

In one common type of single-shot high-current crowbar, a short-circuit path is created by the deliberate failure of the solid insulation separating two conductors, by either the explosive fusing of a conductor carrying the circuit current or the controlled firing of a detonator circuit. Unfortunately, in neither technique does the voltage between the conductors directly initiate the explosion, nor is the crowbar necessarily closed within a set range of the circuit voltage. This paper describes a novel switch that overcomes this difficulty. Semiconductor devices are connected such that they explode and break through the insulation shortly after the voltage between the conductors moves outside a set range.