Switching Notes Note 29 March 1999 The Ferratron: A High-Voltage, High Rep-Rate, Low Jitter, UWB Switch with A Ferroelectric Trigger Leland H. Bowen Everett G. Farr Farr Research, Inc. Juan M. Elizondo Electromagnetic Technologies Corp. Jane Lehr Air Force Research Laboratory / Directed Energy Directorate Abstract The system described here is a novel application of ferroelectric ceramics combined with a gas flow scheme that provides reliable triggering at high repetition rates. The design can be interpreted as an active trigatron-like switch, where the ferroelectric ceramic behaves as an electron/corona source and the trigger configuration is that of a simple trigatron, with the advantage that the trigger voltages are not as high as the gap voltage. The trigger system is integrated into a fast gas flow switch chamber design capable of sustaining 500 kV at a pressure of 1500 psig. The switch chamber is tailored to reduce field stresses and provide a low inductance current path with a very compact geometry. The high gas flow allows the replacement of the gas in the discharge region on a time scale necessary to sustain the required repetition rate (100 Hz to 1 kHz). The switch has been successfully operated during preliminary tests using N 2 at low pressure. The jitter was found to be less than 70ps at a rep rate of 1 Hz. The rise time was on the order of 500ps. Higher rep rates, faster rise times, and higher voltages will be attained as testing and development continue.