Performance of a compact four gap thyratron in a high voltage, high repetition rate test circuit

The development of a compact, hollow-anode, high-voltage thyratron, the CX2025, is described. The CX2025 achieves operation at high voltage (60 kV) and high repetition rate (4500 p.p.s.) simultaneously with a high rate of rise of current (70 kA/μs), in a test circuit which includes a saturable series inductor. These operating figures are achieved by designing the thyratron with four high-voltage gaps, allowing operation at a higher internal gas density than a double-gap configuration would permit. A semi-empirical computer analysis of anode dissipation and measurements made with a double gap thyratron, the CX1725, show that an increased internal gas density has a strong influence on anode voltage-fall times and hence on anode dissipation. The implications of this development for modulator design and efficiency are briefly discussed