Picosecond-controlled switching of high-voltage gas discharge

It is experimentally demonstrated that a nitrogen-filled discharge gap of a high-voltage oscillator can be switched by an electron beam with a time spread no exceeding ∼25 ps relative to the accelerating voltage pulse front. The regime of high-precision control is obtained in the case of a homogeneous potential distribution in the gap, at a microsecond-long voltage buildup to a level of ∼90% of the self-induced breakdown. The period of induced conductivity in the discharge gap corresponds to the beam current pulse duration.