A new gas-filled trigger tube for logical functions

The tube has been designed with a view to large-scale mechanized production with the least possible handling and this has affected the mechanical form and electrical characteristics. A study of its basic operation has led to a new way of presenting its characteristics, enabling the equipment designer to calculate more exactly the requirements for ignition and extinction. In particular, the build-up of current between trigger and cathode after the application of an overvoltage has been studied, and from the results are derived the requirements for pulse ignition of the tube and the effect of different pulse shapes. The requirements for extinction of the anode-cathode discharge either by an externally produced pulse or in a self-extinguishing circuit are also discussed.