Analysis of the theory of the electron avalanche domain (EAD) in GaAs photoconductive semiconductor switches

Abstract

An electron avalanche domain (EAD) theory for the filamentary current (streamer) formation and propagation in semi-insulating (SI) GaAs photoconductive semiconductor switches (PCSS) has been derived from the analysis of the experiments. The theory perfects the EAD concept and reveals that the steady increase of the non-equilibrium carrier density for the strong electric field and the high carrier density effect can lead to form the streamer in the local area of the high gain GaAs PCSS. The EAD theory is used successfully to explain the following experimental phenomena happened in the high gain GaAs PCSS which include the formation and propagation of the current filament, the occurrence of carrier avalanche in SI GaAs PCSS when the bias field across the device is below the threshold electric field in GaAs for intrinsic impact ionization. The results show that the EAD theory is a generalized theory to analyze the streamer formation in such transferred-electron effect semiconductor devices.