High Precision, White Nanosecond Xe Pulsed Light Source for High-Speed Stroboscopic Measurement

Abstract

We have developed a thyratron-gated, white nanosecond pulsed light source for high-speed stroboscopic measurement using a commercially available Xe shorr-arc lamp. To reduce time jitter, a grounded grid thyratron and an avalanche transistor are used for this light source. The grounded grid thyratron plays the role as switching component for high voltage and large current, and the avalanche transistor plays the role as main parts of fast trigger pulse generator. Time jitter was determined quantitatively using time to amplitude converter (TAC). The minimum value and maximum value of time jitter were 1.44 ns (FWHM : full width at half-maximum) and 4.5 ns (FWHM), respectively. As time jitter of the previous pulsed light source using grounded cathode thyratron was 8 ns, sufficient results were obtained. Intense light pulses as large as 85 W (peak value) of 15.3 ns duration (FWHM) was obtained from the proposed Xe lamp system. The reduction of the time jitter is suitable for an excitation light source in time-resolved spectroscopy and also for a stroboscopic illumination in a high-speed fluid experiment.