High voltage pre-pulsing

A pre-pulse switching system comprising:

• a power source configured to provide a voltage greater than 100 V;
• a pre-pulse switch coupled with the power source and configured to provide a pre-pulse having a pulse width of Tpp;
• and
• a main switch coupled with the power source and configured to provide a main pulse such that an output pulse comprises a single pulse with negligible ringing;
• wherein the pre-pulse is provided to a load by closing the pre-pulse switch while the main switch is open;
• wherein the main pulse is provided to the load by closing the main switch after a delay Tdelay after the pre-pulse switch has been opened.

A switching system comprising:

• a high voltage power supply;
• an output;
• a plurality of pre-pulse switches coupled with the high voltage power supply, each of the plurality of pre-pulses are configured to provide a pre-pulse to the output;
• and
• a plurality of main switches coupled with the power supply, each of the plurality of main switches are configured to provide a main pulse to the output with a voltage greater than 100 V, wherein an output pulse comprises a single output pulse from the combination of the pre-pulse and the main pulse switches with a pulse length greater than 10 ns.