Pseudosparks in the nanosecond range of operation: firing, jitter, and current disruption

The operation of pseudosparks (thyratrons with cold cathodes) of the TDI1-150k/25 type was investigated in the nanosecond time range of control and switching. Their most important characteristics are their reliability of firing—practically in 100% of cases, a jitter time—less than 4 ns, and the possibility of them switching off (interruption of a current) at a particular moment (after the first half of a discharge cycle). Investigations have shown that the TDI1-150k/25 device has all the above characteristics (which meet the current industrial demands) if the proper operational regimes are chosen. We have proven its parameters with a set of four switches working in parallel at the current level of a few hundred kiloamperes at our installations of the Dense Plasma Focus type, having an energy of several kilojoules.