Pulse forming network bank for pulse pair generation in gas lasers

A gas laser with the ability to perform at a high repetition rate without a large increase in average output power requirement, resulting in smaller lasers, smaller power supplies, smaller pulse forming networks and lower power consumption than is required in prior art devices. There is provided a unique pulse-forming network (PFN) bank wherein two energy storage capacitors (125, 135) are charged simultaneously and discharged sequentially into the same gas laser (140) to generates a pair of high peak power laser pulses. The time interval between the two pulses is limited only by the recovery time of a high voltage switch. A gas laser provided with the network in accordance with the present invention transmits information by pulse position modulation (PPM) . The information content is limited only by the jitter of the high voltage switch (80, 90). A laser transmitting information by PPM can easily contain in two pulses what a laser transmitting pulse code modulation (PCM) can contain in twelve pulses. Without the present invention, a gas laser requires a much larger power supply to transmit information by PPM because it must recharge the PFN between lasings. Since a gas laser utilizing the PFN in accordance with the present invention does not recharge between lasings, it can also provide shorter inter-pulse timing.