Rapid Start BLT Switches for Anti-Missile Radar Systems

Anti-missile radars require high voltage pulse-power switching at high average powers on the order of 100 kilowatts. Physically large, slow-to-warm-up switch tubes have been needed to handle the necessary peak currents. Integrated Applied Physics' BLT-250, a miniaturized hydrogen thyratron employing a novel, fast-warm-up "super-emissive" cathode, can switch many 10s of kiloamperes of peak current in a small (2 1/2" diameter) envelope, making the device a strong candidate to replace heavy, bulky, conventional thyratrons, provided that ways can be found to spread and remove the many kilowatts of heat dissipation now concentrated in the miniaturized devices. In this program, novel methods for removing heat from miniature power tubes will be investigated. Success in removing highly concentrated average-power heat dissipation from the BLT will make practical smaller, lighter,faster-responding, and more powerful radar modulators, laser drivers, and other pulse power equipment.