pulsesshort

Pulsesshort is a term encountered in electronics, photonics, and signal processing to describe a pulse with a relatively short duration. The term is not widely standardized and definitions vary by field; in general, a pulseshort denotes a pulse whose width is small compared with the time scale of the system under study, often accompanied by a high peak power and a low duty cycle. In optical and RF contexts, durations can range from picoseconds to microseconds, with repetition rates spanning from a few hertz to several gigahertz. Key characteristics include short rise and fall times, broad spectral content, and sensitivity to bandwidth, impedance, and waveform shaping.

Measurements of pulseshort signals rely on high-bandwidth instrumentation, such as oscilloscopes and sampling analyzers with bandwidths well above 1 divided by the pulse duration, to accurately capture waveform shape and spectral content. In practice, pulseshort is used to excite fast transients, gate signals, or probe rapid dynamics in both research and industry. Common applications include pulsed-laser diode drivers, high-speed digital communications, radar, and pulsed-power switching circuits. The short duration implies a low energy per pulse unless peak power is increased, which raises concerns about heating, switching losses, and spectral leakage.

Because it is not a universally standardized term, some authors use pulseshort interchangeably with short pulse or ultra-short pulse in a loose sense; others reserve it for a particular regime defined by context. See also pulse width, pulse duration, rise time, pulse repetition frequency.