Have you looked into operating a bipolar transistor in avalanche breakdown
mode?
We use this to trigger a laser diode as it gives a very fast risetime (~2
to 5 nS) for a rangefinder application.

But ours work at about 200V. Maybe series them and trigger one - the others
will auto trigger. There doesn't appear much of a range available. Standard
high voltage bipolars may work, but may vary considerably in trigger
sensitivity etc. Peak current might be a problem also, we're only running
at about 20A.

RP

On 7 April 2018 at 02:53, Van Horn, David <
david.vanhorn@backcountryaccess.com> wrote:

>
> To David's original question, though: 100nF at 1kV is not much energy. I
> wouldn't expect too much difficulty in switching that, except that most
> means of switching it are likely to be rather lossy since the cap will be
> mostly discharged by the time that the switch is fully ON. This is probab=
ly
> true even for a mechanical switch since the arc will start and complete
> before the contacts actually touch.
>
>
> Yup.  That's one effect I want to get rid of.
>
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