High power, triple grid thyratron and its test circuit

As part of the polarized proton experiment on the AGS at Brookhaven National Laboratory, a requirement has arisen for a special thyratron device to switch the pulsed quadrupole magnets. The magnet drive-current waveform consists of a series of triangular pulses of alternate polarity, with amplitude increasing from 400A in the first pulse, to 2.7kA in the last pulse. Pulse rise-time is 2 microns with a linear fall to a base line of about 3ms. Over 3.5 Coulombs are switched in the largest pulse. The pulse series is repeated every 2.5 seconds leading to an average switch current approaching 4A. EEV has designed a special thyratron to switch this circuit, and built a suitable test station.