Thyratrons
AEP Components offers you original Teledyne e2v hydrogen thyratrons.
A hydrogen thyratron is a high peak power electrical switch which uses hydrogen gas as the switching medium. The switching action is achieved by a transfer from the insulating properties of neutral gas to the conducting properties of ionized gas. The hydrogen thyratrons are designed to withstand a high voltage in the ‘’off’’ to trigger at a precisely defined time, to pass high peak, current pulses in the ‘’on’’ state and to recover rapidly to the ‘’off’’ state to allow high repetition rate operation.
Thyratron advantages
- Manufactured by e2v Teledyne
- High voltage capability up to 200 kV
- Peak current capability up to 100 kA
- Can handle partial or full reverse conduction
- Pulse widths from tens of nanoseconds to hundreds of microseconds
- Pulse repetition rate capability up to 70 kHz
- Robust
- Can tolerate fault conditions well in excess of normal rating
Capacitors in combination with Thyratrons
Circuits with rates of rise of current greater than 20 kA/µs may produce voltage spikes on the reservoir heater. Capacitors in parallel across the reservoir form an effective bypass for voltage spikes. View our complete range of capacitors to bypass voltage spikes.
Resistors in combination with Thyratrons
The choice of trigger scheme depends on the type of thyratron, the application and the required critical performance characteristics, .e.g. jitter, current rist time, recovery time, operating endurance, etc. Many thyratrons required negative bias to be applied to the control grid, but there are some thyratron types that will operate with zero bias. The following three schemes are in common use and cover most requirements:
- Double pulsing
- DC on Priming Grids
- Split single pulse
Any of these trigger circuits will need to be protected against large transient voltages (grid spikes) which may reach a substantial fraction of the anode voltage for about 20 ns at the instant of firing. Resistors connected to the grid terminal, along with stray capacitance will provide filtering against it. In addition, non-linear resistors connected close to the thyratron grid are effective in reducing the grid spike that appears on the trigger lead. View our complete range of Resistors protect your circuit against grid spikes.
