Recent Advances In Cs-Ba Tacitron Technology

Abstract

The capability of the Cs-Ba tacitron as an inverter has been demonstrated, and its current modulation characteristics have been investigated. The inverter was operated in two modes, the thyratron (forced commutation) mode and the tacitron (grid controlled) mode. In the thyratron mode the tacitron was shown to modulate up to 10 kHz at a forward voltage drop as low as 2 V. In the tacitron mode, modulation frequencies up to 20 kHz at voltage drops of 3-3 5 V were demonstrated. The planar tacitron was shown to modulate 5 Ncm2 at 22 kHz, at a forward voltage drop of 2.2 V. Plasma diagnostic capability using Langmuir probes was sucessfully implemented.