EOS Optronics has introduced the 10kV and 3kV Pockels cell drivers, which are high voltage, high frequency, fast switching power supplies. The driver modules are developed to safely and reliably provide the fast and high voltage switching required to drive the latest Pockels cells in high power laser applications. Pockels cells can be used for regenerative amplifiers, pulse slicers (pulse picker), and other fast optical switching systems in laser systems.
The devised driver electronics for the actual Pockels cell is specifically characterised such that even two Pockels cells of total load up to 12pF can be connected and simultaneously driven with a fast slope of 9.5kV in fewer than 11ns, even at high laser repetition rates of up to 2kHz. A variable and low-jitter impulse width from 80ns to 2.3μs is achieved for the 10kV unit. For the 3kV driver, typical pulse width of 8ns for a load of up to 12pF is achieved.