Application of avalanche generators in laboratory measurements

Nanosecond pulses of large amplitudes are required for laboratory measurements in several domains, including particle accelerator beam instrumentation. Producing such pulses can be efficiently achieved with so called avalanche generators. In these generators an external delay line, charged to relatively high voltage, is periodically discharged to the generator output exploiting the avalanche breakdown effect in a bipolar junction transistor. This paper describes a number of avalanche generators built and used by the authors, including versions with trigger and amplitude modulation inputs. The described generators were constructed primarily to produce pulses simulating beam-induced signals from the Large Hadron Collider. They can, however, be useful for any measurements where nanosecond pulses with amplitudes of tens of volts are required.