In gas tube switch 500, when commutating, the electric field between anode 520 and cathode 522 is controlled using switching electrode 530. Keep-alive electrode 528 is optionally used to maintain a weak plasma between keep-alive electrode 528 and cathode 522 when the gas tube switch is open, improving repeatability of the closing process and reducing jitter-time. When closing, switching electrode 530 is energized to initialize the ionization of ionizable gas 526 between anode 520 and switching electrode 530 to produce the highly conductive plasma extending from anode 520 to cathode 522. When opening, switching electrode 530 is energized to briefly intercept the current of the highly conductive plasma, thereby facilitating opening of the switch.

Keep-alive electrode 528 and switching electrode 530 for gas tube switch 500 are controlled by controller 122 using control lines 538. In certain embodiments, control lines 538 are referenced to cathode 522.

Controller 122 operates gas tube switch 500 at a switching frequency. The switching frequency, in hertz, quantifies a number of commutations of gas tube switch 500 per second. Gas tube switch 500 commutates by a single transition from open to close or from close to open. Controller 122 operates at a switching frequency between 50 hertz and 20,000 hertz, inclusively. The switching frequency at which controller 122 operates is further determined as a function of the device or components coupled to anode 520 and cathode 522.