A nanosecond pulse generator for intracellular electromanipulation

Intracellular electromanipulation (ICEM), the manipulation of substructures of biological cells by means of externally applied electric fields requires electrical pulses of nanosecond to tens of nanosecond duration and amplitudes of tens of kilovolt. The load in these bioelectric experiments, a cuvette containing biological cells, immersed in a solution of high conductivity, is generally on the order of 10 /spl Omega/. Strip line pulsers satisfy the condition of low impedance. A Blumlein strip line pulser with a pressurized spark gap as switch has been designed. The electrical characteristics of a particular pulse generator, which produces an 8 ns pulse with voltages between 2 kV and 30 kV across a 10 /spl Omega/ load are described.