A study of the high current back lighted thyratron and pseudospark switch

Author

Kirkman-Amemiya, G. ; Bauer, H. ; Liou, R. ; Hsu, T. ; Figueroa, H. ; Gundersen, M.

Author_Institution

Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

fYear

1990

fDate

26-28 Jun 1990

Firstpage

254

Lastpage

259

Abstract

High-current operation of the back-lighted thyratron (BLT) switch is reported. The cathode emission mechanism and discharge formation characteristics common to BLT and pseudospark switches are described. The BLT switch is an optically triggered low-pressure diffuse discharge closing switch that operates at high currents with a self-heated cathode. Operation for square 150 ns pulses of 1-10.5 kA, 2.5-20 kV, <25 Hz, 45 ns risetime and a 500 ns capacitor discharge up to 82 kA at 25 kV including operation at 5 Hz, 17.5 kV, 60 kA is reported. The switch exhibits a risetime and peak current limit at low currents but no high current limit (up to 82 kA). The low current limit is explained as being due to an insufficient heating of the self-heated cathode

Keywords

cathodes; optical switches; power capacitors; switchgear; switchgear testing; thyratrons; 1 to 10.5 kA; 150 ns; 17.5 kV; 2.5 to 20 kV; 25 kV; 45 ns; 5 Hz; 500 ns; 60 kA; 82 kA; back lighted thyratron; capacitor; cathode emission; discharge formation characteristics; optical triggering; peak current limit; pseudospark switch; risetime; square pulses; switchgear; Cathodes; Electrodes; Hydrogen; Optical pulse shaping; Optical switches; Pulse circuits; Pulse compression methods; Pulse modulation; Switching circuits; Thyratrons;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Power Modulator Symposium, 1990., IEEE Conference Record of the 1990 Nineteenth

Conference_Location

San Diego, CA

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/MODSYM.1990.200996

Filename

200996