Synchronizable high voltage pulser with laser-photocathode trigger

High gradient pulsed electron guns have been studied to suppress the space-charge induced transverse emittance growth of the electron beam in the injection stage. Synchronizable high-voltage (HV) pulsers are needed to power up high-gradient guns. In this article, we propose to build a HV pulser with a new switching technique that exploits a special trigger, a laser-photocathode subsystem. With this trigger, we not only utilize the laser beam energy efficiently, but also trigger the switch reliably. Calculations show that the properties of the switch can be improved greatly using this technique.