External triggering of cold cathode thyratron in the system with blocking electrodes

Abstract

One of the widely used systems for external triggering of the cold cathode thyratron (pseudospark switch) is based on a trigger unit with an auxiliary glow discharge. In most cases, the trigger unit is mounted at the grounded cathode. However, in some cases a specific requirement for triggering is demanded, namely, a trigger unit has to be located at potential cathode electrode. Direct application of the previous experience as applied to these cases leads to a rather intricate design for both mechanical parts of the trigger unit and electric circuit. This paper describes a simple trigger system for such conditions. Simultaneously with the function of external triggering, the system provides the so-called blocking effect, i.e. increasing a pulsed breakdown voltage and preventing the accident breakdowns in the regime of high pulse repetition rate.