11 February 2018

Difference between thyristor and thyratron

Thyratrons were used for industrial control before the discovery of thyristors device but now they have been replaced by the thyristors in nowadays. They both are three-terminal devices still the construction of gate terminal are different form. Now let check it out the difference between them to know more about that.

Difference between thyristor and thyratron :


  • Thyristor is a current controlled device while thyratron is a voltage-controlled device.
  • Thyristor is light in weight and require less space, thyratron heavy and requires more space.
  • Thyristor is more reliable whereas thyratron is not reliable.
  • Thyristor is higher Turn-ON and Turn-OFF time and smaller Turn-ON and Turn-OFF time in case of thyratron device.
  • A thyristor is more accurate comparison to the thyratron.
  • A thyratron is costlier compared to the thyristor.
  • Thyristor needs only one low power supply and control signal to perform the operation while Thyratron needs too much large power supply between anode and cathode.
  • The life of thyristor is greater than to thyratron.
  • Internal losses are more in the case of thyratron as compare to the thyristor device.
  • The thyristor is a more accurate comparison to the thyratron.
  • Thyratron takes a long time in ionizing and deionizing, therefore, is unsuitable for higher frequency but thyristor can operate a wide range of frequencies.