We have developed an avalanche transistor-based pulse generator for driving the photocathode of an image intensifier, which comprises a mainly capacitive load on the order of 100 pF. The circuit produces flat-top pulses with rise time of 2 ns, FWHM of 10 ns and amplitude of tens of V at a high repetition rate in the range of tens of MHz. The generator is built of identical avalanche transistor sections connected in parallel and triggered in a sequence, synchronized to a reference rf signal. The described circuit and mode of operation overcome the power dissipation limit of avalanche transistor generators and enable a significant increase of pulse repetition rates. Our approach is naturally suited for synchronized imaging applications at low light levels.
@article{arxiv.1712.04819,
title = {An avalanche transistor-based nanosecond pulse generator with 25 MHz repetition rate},
author = {N. Beev and J. Keller and T. E. Mehlstäubler},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1712.04819},
year = {2017}
}
Comments
3 pages, 5 figures, to appear in Rev. Sci. Instrum