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A pulse forming network (PFN) is an electric circuit that accumulates electrical energy over a comparatively long time, then releases the stored energy in the form of a relatively square pulse of comparatively brief duration for various pulsed power applications. In a PFN, energy storage components such as capacitors, inductors or transmission lines are charged by means of a high voltage power source, then rapidly discharged into a load via a high voltage switch, such as a spark gap or hydrogen thyratron. Repetition rates range from single pulses to about 104 per second. PFNs are used to produce precise nanosecond-length pulses of electricity to power devices such as klystron or magnetron tube oscillators in radar sets, pulsed lasers, particle accelerators, flashtubes, and high voltage utility test equipment. Much high energy research equipment is operated in a pulsed mode, both to keep heat dissipation down and because high energy physics often occurs at short time scales, so large PFNs are widely used in high energy research. They have been used to produce nanosecond length pulses with voltages of up to 106 - 107 volts and currents up to 106 amps, with peak power in the terawatt range, similar to lightning bolts.