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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

Solid-State Thyratron Replacement. Final Report

Under this SBIR, DTI developed a solid-state switch as an alternative to legacy thyratron equipment. Our Phase II objective was to make a solid-state thyratron replacement that would provide equivalent or better performance, much higher reliability (at least a 20 year lifetime, compared to a thyratron’s two-year lifetime) and would sell for ~3x the cost of a thyratron, or less than $40k. We were successful in building a solid-state switch which could reliably function as a thyratron replacement. The unit was designed to directly replace the thyratrons currently being used at SLAC’s Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), and was built in a tank that was small enough to fit into the existing thyratron cabinet, providing a true form-fit-function replacement path. We tested the switch at the full operating specifications: 48 kV, 6.3 kA, and 1 µs risetime. We also demonstrated a peak-to-peak pulse jitter of 1.5 ns, which is five times shorter than is typical for thyratrons. This lower jitter would improve the performance of the LCLS beam. The predicted reliability is more than 80 years, which is 40 times greater than a thyratron.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2018

Study of Cold-Cathode Thyratron Triggering Stability at High Anode Voltages

The delay time to breakdown of a cold-cathode thyratron with a trigger unit based on an auxiliary steady-state low-current glow discharge was studied experimentally. The device was connected into the electric circuit according to the circuit of a classical thyratron. The main experiments were carried out at low working gas (deuterium) pressures and high anode voltages of about 40 kV. It is found that, during the triggering current pulse or commutation of the main discharge current, the auxiliary discharge in the trigger unit passes from the stable segment of the current-voltage characteristic into the regime with a reduced operating voltage. Spontaneous reverse transitions from this regime are also possible. On the other hand, the initial conditions of the auxiliary discharge affect the delay time to thyratron breakdown and lead to the jitter in the total delay time to breakdown relative to the triggering pulse. The total delay time amounts to 100 ns, the jitter in delay time being within 15 ns.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Auxiliary glow discharge in the trigger unit of a hollow-cathode thyratron

Results from studies of a low-current glow discharge with a hollow cathode are presented. A specific feature of the discharge conditions was that a highly emissive tablet containing cesium carbonate was placed in the cathode cavity. In the absence of a tablet, the discharge ignition voltage was typically ≥3.5 kV, while the burning voltage was in the range of 500–600 V. The use of the tablet made it possible to decrease the ignition voltage to 280 V and maintain the discharge burning voltage at a level of about 130 V. A model of the current sustainment in a hollow-cathode discharge is proposed. Instead of the conventional secondary emission yield, the model uses a generalized emission yield that takes into account not only ion bombardment of the cathode, but also the emission current from an external source. The model is used to interpret the observed current−voltage characteristics. The results of calculations agree well with the experimental data. It is shown that, in some discharge modes, the external emission current from the cathode can reach 25% of the total discharge current.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Final Conversion of the Spallation Neutron Source Extraction Kicker Pulse Forming Network to a High Voltage Solid-State Switch

The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) extraction kicker 60Hz pulsed system uses 14 Blumlein pulse-forming network (PFN) modulators that require timing synchronization with stable rise times. A replacement design has been investigated and the kickers have been converted over to use a solid-state switch design, eliminating the lifetime and stability issues associated with thyratrons and subsequent maintenance costs. All kickers have been converted, preventing thyratron jitter from impacting the beam performance and allowing higher-precision target impact. This paper discusses the completion of the conversion of the high-voltage switch from a thyratron to a solid-state switch with improved stability of the extraction system and associated accelerator beam stability.

Morris, B↗
DOE OSTI2016

Development of a compact generator for gigawatt, nanosecond high-voltage pulses

A compact generator producing 2.2-ns 1.5 GW high-voltage pulses was developed. The generator employed a 27.6 Ω, 0.9 ns pulse-forming-line (PFL), which was charged by an iron core transformer with a turn ratio of 2:33.5 and a coefficient of 0.94. A 1.2 μF, 20 kV capacitor and a hydrogen thyratron were used in the primary circuit. When the thyratron closed at 14.5 kV, 3.4% of the energy stored in the capacitor was delivered to the PFL in 850 ns, producing a peak voltage of up to ∼500 kV. In addition, the principle of triple resonance transformation was employed by adding a 50 pF tuning capacitor and a 1.15 mH inductor between the transformer and the PFL, which led to a significant reduction of the duration and peak value of the transformer voltage without reducing that in the PFL. Meanwhile, an adjustable self-break oil switch was applied. By using transmission lines with impedance overmatched to that of the PFL, the generator delivered a 512 kV pulse across an electron beam diode, generating radiation with a dose of 20 mR/pulse at 20 cm ahead of the diode. The generator provides an excellent ultra-short radiation pulse source for the studies on radiation physics.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2016

Pseudo-spark switch (PSS) characteristics under different operation conditions

The present paper concentrates on the characteristics of the pseudospark switch (PSS) designed in a previous work. The special characteristics of PSS make it a replacement for other high voltage switches such as thyratrons and ordinary high-pressure spark gaps. PSS is characterized by short rise time and small jitter time. The pseudo park chamber consists of two hollow cylindrical electrodes made of a stainless steel material (type 306L) separated by an insulator. The insulator used in our design is a glazed ceramic 70 mm in diameter and 3.5 mm in thickness. A PSS with an anode voltage of 29.2 kV, and a current of 3.6 kA and 11 ns rise time was achieved and used successfully at a repetition rate of about 2.2 kHz. A simple trigger circuit designed, built, and used effectively reaching more than 1.56 kV trigger pulse which is sufficient to ignite the argon gas inside the cathode to cause a breakdown. A non-inductive dummy load is designed to be a new technique to find the accurate value of the PSS inductance. A jitter time of ±10 ns pulses is observed to occur in a reliable manner for more than 6 h of continuous operation. In this research, the important parameters of this switch like rise time, peak current, and anode voltage were studied at various values of charging capacitance. The lifetime of this system is depending on the kind of the electrode material and on the type of insulation material in the main gap of the pseudospark switch.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Copper bromide vapour laser with an output pulse duration of up to 320 ns

We report the development of a copper bromide vapour laser with an output pulse duration of up to 320 ns. To lengthen the pulse, the discharge current was limited using a compound switch comprising a pulsed hydrogen thyratron and a tacitron. This technique permits limiting the excitation of the working levels at the initial stage of the discharge development to lengthen the inversion lifetime. The longest duration of a laser pulse was reached in tubes 25 and 50 mm in diameter for a pulse repetition rate of 2 – 4 kHz. (lasers and laser beams)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗