Comparative Analysis of High-Voltage High-Frequency Pulse Generation Techniques for Pockels Cells
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This paper presents a comprehensive comparative analysis of high-voltage, high-frequency pulse generation techniques for Pockels cell drivers. These drivers are critical in electro-optic systems for laser modulation, where nanosecond-scale voltage pulses with amplitudes of several kilovolts are required. The study reviews key design challenges, with particular emphasis on thermal management strategies, including air, liquid, solid-state, and phase-change cooling methods. Different high-voltage, high-frequency pulse generation architectures including vacuum tubes, voltage multipliers, Marx generators, Blumlein structures, pulse-forming networks, Tesla transformers, switching-mode power supplies, solid-state switches, and high-voltage operational amplifiers are systematically evaluated with respect to cost, complexity, stability, and their suitability for driving capacitive loads. The analysis highlights hybrid approaches that integrate solid-state switching with modular multipliers or pulse-forming circuits as offering the best balance of efficiency, compactness, and reliability. The findings provide practical guidelines for developing next-generation high-performance Pockels cell drivers optimized for advanced optical and laser applications.
Source: Applied Sciences
DOI: 10.3390/app151910830
Authors: Edgard Aleinikov, Vaidotas Barzdenas
Institution: Vilnius Gediminas Technical University
Language: English
Subfield: Control and Systems Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,896
OpenAlex ID: W4415008397