New Hydrogen Thyratrons for Advanced High Power Switching

Recent advances in high power switching have led to the development of new hydrogen thyratrons operating at high pulse-repetition rate (PRR) and high di/dt with low jitter and long life. Short commutation times, dependent on internal pressure and geometry, and on the method of triggering, combine with inductance less than ¼ nH/kV to give di/dt on the order of 1012 A/s. Experimental results are in agreement with those predicted by new theoretical models. Operation at peak currents up to 75 kA has been achieved for 10-μs pulses, and much higher currents can be achieved at shorter pulsewidths. Tests at 1 MW of average power have verified thyratron scaling laws at tens of amperes average and kiloamperes rms. Thyratron operation at average power levels far in excess of 1 MW is possible.