Transient bandwidth analysis of photoconductive microwave switches implemented in the OMEGA pulse shaping system

Kenton Green; William R. Donaldson; Robert L. Keck; Andrey V. Okishev; Mark D. Skeldon; Wolf D. Seka; Roman Sobolewski

doi:10.1117/12.354228

23 July 1999 Transient bandwidth analysis of photoconductive microwave switches implemented in the OMEGA pulse shaping system

Kenton Green, William R. Donaldson, Robert L. Keck, Andrey V. Okishev, Mark D. Skeldon, Wolf D. Seka, Roman Sobolewski

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 3492, Third International Conference on Solid State Lasers for Application to Inertial Confinement Fusion; (1999) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.354228
Event: Third International Conference on Solid State Lasers for Application to Inertial Confinement Fusion, 1998, Monterey, CA, United States

Abstract

Previous measurements have demonstrated that the greatest limitation on the pulse-shape bandwidth of the Laboratory for Laser Energetics' OMEGA laser's driver line occurs within the electrical pulse-shaping subsystem during transmission through the photoconductive switches. A comparison of the spectral content of the shaped pulses before and after the switch indicated that the switch 3dB bandwidth was approximately 3 GHz. Since this was the limiting bandwidth of the system, it was necessary to measure and improve the microwave transmission through the switches. This challenge required a novel measurement scheme, described in this paper, to allow accurate optimization of the switch parameters that affect bandwidth. The switches were characterized and their 3dB transmission bandwidth was expanded to over 5 GHz, thereby improving them beyond the system bandwidth limits.

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Kenton Green, William R. Donaldson, Robert L. Keck, Andrey V. Okishev, Mark D. Skeldon, Wolf D. Seka, and Roman Sobolewski "Transient bandwidth analysis of photoconductive microwave switches implemented in the OMEGA pulse shaping system", Proc. SPIE 3492, Third International Conference on Solid State Lasers for Application to Inertial Confinement Fusion, (23 July 1999); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.354228

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