Gas heating effects in hydrogen thyratron discharges

Abstract

A theoretical study of the effects of gas heating in hydrogen thyratron discharges is presented. Coulomb collisions between electrons and ions are identified to contribute predominantly to gas heating. Time-dependent numerical solutions for the gas temperature, as well as the electron and chemical kinetics are obtained. It is shown that the electron temperature can be significantly higher than that calculated using a cold gas assumption. A mechanism is proposed by which quenching can occur due to the onset of a gas temperature maximum for which the required current during the conduction phase cannot be maintained in the grid aperture region. The time it takes for the gas temperature to reach the quenching point is presented as a function of the current density.