The operation characteristics of the Cs‐Ba tacitron as a switch are investigated experimentally in three modes: (a) breakdown mode; (b)I‐Vmode; and (c) current modulation mode. The switching frequency, grid potentials for ignition and extinguishing of discharge, and the Cs pressure and emission conditions (Ba pressure and emitter temperature) for stable current modulation are determined. The experimental data is also used to determine the off time required for successful ignition, and the effects of the aforementioned operation parameters on the ignition duty cycle threshold for stable modulation. Operation parameters measured include switching frequency up to 8 kHz, hold‐off voltage up to 180 V, current densities in excess of 15 A/cm2, switch power density of 1 kW/cm2, and a switching efficiency in excess of 90 at collector voltages greater than 30 V. The voltage drop strongly depends on the Cs pressure and to a lesser extent on the emission conditions. Increasing the Cs pressure and/or the emission current lowers the voltage drop, however, for the same initial Cs pressure and emission conditions, the voltage drop in theI‐Vmode is usually lower than that during current modulation. As long as the discharge current is kept lower than the emission current, the voltage drop during stable current modulation could be as low as 3 V.
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