Kicker thyratron experience from SLC

The SLAC (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center) Linear Collider has five kickers for the damping ring injectors, extractors, and the electron extractor for the positron target that use multigap deuterium-filled thyratrons. The thyratrons operate with 30-70-kV anode voltages and 1-5-kA currents, to deliver pulses to kicker magnets with approximately=30-ns risetimes and up to approximately=150-ns pulse widths at 120 Hz. Operating and lifetime experience with several types of thyratrons and support electronics is discussed. Floating driver and power supply electronics were replaced by a ferrite choke isolator to allow grounding of the cathode support electronics with a commensurate increase in operating reliability.<
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