Infrared Inhibition of Flashover in Photoconductive Semiconductor Switch in High Electric Field

Abstract

Semi-insulating GaAs photoconductive switches hold great potential for use in high-voltage switching applications. However, the utility is restricted by surface flashover, which resulted in breakdown in previous experiments. In this letter, we designed a configuration based on infrared inhibition to suppress the surface flashover in high-voltage operation. Bias voltage can be up to 32 kV with a 0.9-kA switching current. Results show that transport of photo-activated charge domain is interrupted by the formation of new domains due to second laser trigger.