Submicrosecond Flash Sources

Harold E. Edgerton, John Tredwell, Kenneth W. Cooper

Design details are given for two submicrosecond flash sources for photography by reflected light, silhouette and schlieren techniques. The source for reflected-light photography uses a “guided” air spark operated at 18 kv with 0.05 μf to produce a 0.4-μsec flash with a peak light of 5 million candlepower. The flashtube, a special design, is described, together with its power supply and trigger circuit. The trigger circuit can be operated by a microphone, phototube, contactor or other electrical signal, and incorporates an adjustable time delay. A photograph taken with the unit is shown. — A small spark source capable of producing flashes of about 10 mμsec duration for silhouette and schlieren photography is described. Relative peak light output and flash duration are given as a function of pressure for air, nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, hydrogen and argon. Gap resistance is given as a function of gap length, for air.

Print ISSN
Published
1961-03
Content type
Original Research
DOI
10.5594/J16931