In recent years there has been much work to reduce the size of pulsed power equipment. Most of the effort has been concentrated on energy storage devices such as capacitors, while other key components such as switches have received relatively little attention. As capacitor energy densities are increased, it becomes desirable to limit the number of switched sections in a bank, so that further reductions in volume may be achieved. This requires switches capable of switching stored energies in the range of 500 kJ to 1 MJ. A size E ignitron with the ability to conduct in both directions without a degradation in its life, would enable cheaper and smaller capacitor banks to be manufactured. With these applications in mind, the author describes how a programme was defined to test the new ignitrons for their ability to withstand 500 kA and 400 degrees C with a current reversal of 35% for 500 shots.
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