Generation and shaping of megawatt high-voltage pulses by optoelectronic technique

A composite miniature structure used to generate megawatt electrical pulses is described. Two photoconductive switches (one GaAs and the other Si) are used, along with voltage multiplication and pulse forming lines, to generate over 14-kV pulses from a DC bias of only 9 kV. These megawatt pulses have picosecond synchronization and can vary in width from nanoseconds to picoseconds.<
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