Progress in the development of stacked Blumlein pulsers commutated by photoconductive switches

Adaptation of the stacked Blumlein pulser designed and patented in our laboratory has enabled it to produce powers as great as 50-70 MW, in nanosecond pulses with risetimes on the order of 200-300 ps into nominally matched loads. The device has a compact line geometry and is commutated by a single photoconductive switch triggered by a low power laser diode array. The main objective of our research is to enlarge the level of understanding and identify design options which make optimal use of avalanche photoconductive switches for stacked Blumlein based ultra-wideband (UWB) sources. This paper presents progress in the development and characterization of stacked Blumlein pulsers commutated by photoconductive switches.