Brief Light Pulses using Kerr Cells

Abstract

IN connexion with certain studies of electrical discharges, we have found it necessary to develop an extremely fast shutter for photography. The electro-optic Kerr effect is used. Mounted 5·1 mm. apart in nitrobenzene in a glass Kerr cell, the electrodes are 12·7 mm. wide and 20·3 mm. long. Selected pieces of ‘Polaroid J' film are placed outside the fused-on windows. The cells are subjected to single pulses of about 12,500 volts from a hydrogen thyratron and RLC pulse-forming network, thus admitting light to the lens of an ordinary camera. We have been photographing such intensely self-luminous objects as sparks and electrically exploded wires with exposures of a microsecond or less.