GENERATION OF GAUSSIAN-LIKE ELECTROMAGNETIC PULSES

Electromagnetic pulses generated via the use of photodiodes are inevit ably a composite of exponential decay transients due to the finite lif etime of the charge carriers and RC relaxation times of the triggering circuit. We have developed a microwave technique in which the limitin g factor of the pulse lineshape is governed by the coupling between a slot and microstrip transmission line instead of exponential transient s. The coupling involves the overlap of these two lines in which one l ine launches the pulse and the other receives it. We have measured mos tly electromagnetic pulses with Gaussian lineshape in agreement with o ur calculations. The formulation of the calculation involves a Lagrang ian description of the coupling between these two lines.