Fast high-voltage amplifiers for driving electro-optic modulators

We describe five high-voltage (60 to 550 V peak to peak), high-speed (1–300 ns risetime; 1.3–300 MHz bandwidth) linear amplifiers for driving capacitive or resistive loads such as electro-optic modulators. The amplifiers use bipolar transistors in various topologies. Two used electron tubes to overcome the speed limitations of high-voltage semiconductors. All amplifiers have been built. Measured performance data is given for each.