High-Speed Photography Using a High-Frequency Spark Source and a Kerr Cell in Combination
A High Frequency Spark illumination system has been combined with a repetitively operated Kerr cell shutter. This combination makes a surprisingly versatile system. The basic idea is to cut off the leading and trailing edges of the sparks by means of the Kerr cell and to retain only the intense light peak. The duration of the spark before clipping is 0.5 microsecond. After clipping, the exposure is much shorter. We showed that it was possible in this way to improve considerably the quality of the pictures of very rapid events. The improvement was evident when one examined the frames separately, and also if they were projected as a slow-motion sequence. The extremely fast shuttering action of the Kerr cell makes it easy to record good photographs on film in an ordinary drum camera even for events that are ordinarily considered difficult to photograph. For example, self-luminous events can be recorded — and even those extremely difficult phenomena which start with a dark phase and progress to a luminous phase. Typical examples of this kind would be the deformation or the melting of fuses.
- Print ISSN
- 0361-4573
- Published
- 1962-02
- Content type
- Original Research
- DOI
- 10.5594/J06197