DC to 1 gigahertz multikilovolt voltage probe

We describe here the design and electrical model of a resistive-capacitive voltage divider for very wide bandwidth high voltage measurements. The divider smoothly transitions from a resistive topology at low frequencies to a capacitive topology at high frequencies, giving it a very flat attenuation curve from DC to a 3dB point at 1.0 GHz. The design is novel, employing a combination of distributed and lumped element compensation. The divider, while compact, can handle voltages up to 15 kV, limited to short pulses by power dissipation. Frequency range is ultimately limited by the self resonance of lumped capacitors and also by resonance of the high voltage interconnect with distributed input capacitance. The voltage divider has a 1000x voltage ratio with output to 50-ohm termination. This probe´s broad range of functionality makes it a practical bench-top scope probe or a permanent fixture within pulse generators