Quick Shot

Streak cameras are used extensively at LLE to measure light intensity with respect to time. Their accuracy depends on properly calibrating their timing. The comb pulse generator was created in-house to accommodate the many streak camera detectors used on high-energy-density plasma experiments. Designed and assembled by the Electronics and Controls Engineering Group, this instrument is a fiber optic, 680-nm comb pulse generator capable of operating up to 5 GHz, or 200‑ps pulse spacing. The output pulses are nearly Gaussian with a full width half maximum of approximately 50 ps and peak power of 5 mW. The rate can be doubled to 10 GHz using a passive optical doubler also developed at LLE. Three other repetition rates can also be selected, including 0.5, 1.0, and 2.5 GHz.