The ignitron as a switch in high-voltage heavy-current pulsing circuits

The paper reviews the requirements for switches in capacitor discharge circuits and describes the methods and apparatus used and the observations made in an experimental study of the operation of the ignitron for this duty. Photographic records show the movement of the cathode spot on the mercury cathode. At heavy currents a substantial proportion of the current is carried by cathode spots on the walls and baffles, the arc tending to follow the shortest path.