Performance Characteristics Of A Commercial-grade Back-lighted Thyratron

The performance characteristics of a single-gap, back-lighted-thyratron (BLT) design are reported. This switch, a sealed, ceramic-metal, hydrogen-filled, flashlamp-triggered device, operates over an internal pressure range of 100 to 500 mTorr (13.3 to 66.7 Pa). This characterization is based on the testing of three separate single-gap prototype devices (built by ITT) all with identical electrode geometries. Three different test circuits were used to evaluate the following switch characteristics: (1) DC holdoff, (2) delay, (3) jitter, (4) dI/dt, (5) recovery, (6) switch losses, and (7) rep-rate. These parameters were measured while varying switch voltage, current, and Anode internal pressure. Some of the best performance characteristics include: peak switched current of 34 kA, peak switched voltage of 78 kV, minimum delay of 700 ns, minimum jitter of 15 ns, maximum dI/dt of 6.7x10/sup 11/ A/sec, and minimum two-pulse recovery time of 470 /spl mu/s.