High-voltage pulse switching hardware for electro-optic studies of conducting aqueous solutions

The hardware necessary for the electro-optic study of conducting polyelectrolyte solutions is frequently not commercially available or financially practical. The designs of an electrical rectangular pulse switch and polarity-reversing relay switch capable of producing 3 kV 5 A direct current pulses lasting longer than 100 ms are presented. As an example of the operation of this equipment, the electric birefringence of an aqueous solution of the Pseudomonas bacteriophage Pf1 in tris/EDTA buffer is presented. © 2002 American Institute of Physics. @DOI: 10.1063/1.1489075#