Impact of high-voltage pulse technology on high-speed photography

A main contributory factor toward the ability to achieve high time resolution with various imaging devices has been the development of fast high voltage pulse generators. These generators are used for remote ramp generators in streak cameras, for driving blanking circuitry, and for gating image tubes. Pulse generators based mainly upon avalanche technology are now capable of sub 100 ps rise times to voltages greater than 10 kV. Repetition rates are now sufficiently high that significant signal averaging can be performed in suitable applications.