Experimental Low-Cost Short Pulse Generators

In this paper, four low-cost pulse generator devices having sub-nanosecond transition time are presented. Some of the possible applications for these devices are also described, along with an overview of the different approaches for sub-nanosecond pulse generation. Furthermore, the architecture and principle of operation of the proposed devices are explained. In particular, the considered pulse generation techniques are based on logic gates, step-recovery diodes and transistors driven in the avalanche region. Finally, some experimental results obtained from both a real-time digital storage oscilloscope and an equivalent time sampling oscilloscope are shown, providing a time-domain characterization of the realized prototypes.