Abstract

The need for ultrafast 2-D diagnostic techniques for studying laser produced plasmas led to the development of picosecond framing cameras. Up to now, several approaches have been investigated and some progress has been achieved.^1–5 We have recently developed and tested a picosecond framing camera. The experimental results have shown that this camera can provide, we believe for the first time, six-frame 7 × 7-mm² images with an exposure time of 40 ps (FWHM), a framing rate of 6.25 × 10⁹ frames per second, and a dynamic spatial resolution of 5.5 lp/mm. To our knowledge these results are the best at present. To achieve these performances two devices were developed: a specially designed picosecond framing image tube and a novel photo-conductive switch pulse-forming network.

© 1992 Optical Society of America