What are the key safety considerations when operating high-voltage pulsed power equipment?

High-voltage pulsed power systems require careful attention to electrical isolation, grounding, and discharge procedures. Key precautions include using properly rated cabling and connectors, ensuring all personnel are trained on lockout/tagout procedures, maintaining safe clearance distances, and never working alone near energized high-voltage circuits. BNC’s DEI division pulsed power equipment includes built-in safety interlocks and is…

What is pulsed power and how does it differ from continuous power delivery?

Pulsed power delivers high-energy electrical pulses over very short durations — typically nanoseconds to microseconds — producing instantaneous peak power levels far exceeding what continuous systems could safely sustain. This concentrated energy is used in applications like laser diode driving, plasma generation, EMC testing, pulsed electron beam systems, and high-energy physics experiments. Continuous power systems…

What sample rate and memory depth do I need for my AWG application?

Sample rate determines the highest frequency component your waveform can accurately reproduce (you need at least 2–5x the highest signal frequency as sample rate). Memory depth determines how long a waveform can be before it repeats. For high-frequency radar or communications waveforms, models like the BNC 686 (20 GS/s, 14-bit) provide high fidelity. For lower…

What is the difference between an arbitrary waveform generator and a function generator?

A function generator produces standard periodic waveforms — sine, square, triangle, and ramp — at fixed shapes defined by the instrument. An arbitrary waveform generator (AWG) lets you define any custom waveform by uploading a point-by-point data file, making it possible to replicate real-world signals, simulate specific modulation schemes, or generate one-time transient pulses. AWGs…

What specifications matter most when choosing an RF signal generator?

The most important specifications are frequency range, phase noise, output power range, and switching speed. Phase noise is especially critical for radar, communications, and quantum computing applications — lower phase noise (measured in dBc/Hz at a given offset) means a cleaner signal. For multi-channel setups, channel-to-channel isolation and phase coherence also matter. BNC offers dedicated…

What is a microwave signal generator and what is it used for?

A microwave signal generator produces a precise RF or microwave frequency output — typically ranging from a few kHz to tens of GHz — that serves as a reference or stimulus signal in test setups. Engineers use them to characterize amplifiers, test receivers, simulate radar signals, verify satellite link budgets, and calibrate spectrum analyzers. BNC’s…

What timing accuracy and jitter specifications should I expect from a BNC digital delay generator in a high-energy physics experiment?

BNC digital delay generators deliver timing resolution as fine as 250 ps (Models 575, 577) with RMS jitter typically under 50 ps for standard configurations. For the most demanding accelerator and particle physics applications — where sub-100 ps jitter budgets are required across multiple channels — the Model 765 provides 70 ps rise time with…

How do BNC digital delay generators synchronize multiple laser pulses in pump-probe experiments?

In pump-probe spectroscopy and ultrafast laser experiments, BNC digital delay generators (Models 555, 575, 577) serve as the master timing hub. The DDG receives a single trigger — typically from a laser oscillator or sync output — and generates multiple independently delayed output pulses, each with picosecond-level timing resolution. These outputs trigger the pump laser,…