Nanosecond Triggering for Sealed-Off Cold Cathode Thyratrons With a Trigger Unit Based on an Auxiliary Glow Discharge

This paper deals with the investigations of ceramic-metal sealed-off pseudospark switches with an auxiliary glow discharge in the trigger unit. The switches are produced commercially by the Pulsed Technology Ltd., Ryazan, Russia. Attention is concentrated on the switch TPI1-10k/50 (pulsed current-10 kA and anode voltage-up to 50 kV). The schematic design of the devices and the principles of function are described. It is demonstrated that the switch is able to operate with an electric circuit corresponding to the classical hydrogen thyratron and to the thyratron with a grounded grid. In both cases, a delay time to triggering in the vicinity of 100 ns and a nanosecond jitter in the delay time are achievable.