Generation of 7.8-ps electrical transients on a monolithic nonlinear transmission line

Picosecond pulse generators are central components for high-speed electronic instrumentation. Step-recovery diodes generate ~10-V transitions of 35-ps rise time, while funnel diodes generate ~0.2-V 25-ps transitions. We report generation of electrical wavefronts with 7.8-ps fall time by propagation1,2 on a GaAs monolithic nonlinear transmission line.