High-voltage subnanosecond risetime electrical pulse generation for picosecond laser applications

The authors describe the design, construction and operating characteristics of a fast-risetime high-voltage pulser for Pockels cell driving. The risetime is less than 0.5 ns and the jitter less than 1 ns while the trigger delay time is approximately 20 ns. As an application the authors show that the use of this pulser in a self-injected Nd:YAG laser allows the production of subnanosecond duration high peak power impulses with low jitter and good stability.