GaAs Photoconductive Semiconductor Switches Research Articles

Effects of spot size on the operation mode of GaAs photoconductive semiconductor switch employing extrinsic photoconductivity

To guide the illuminating design to improve the on-state performances of gallium arsenide (GaAs) photoconductive semiconductor switch (PCSS), the effect of spot size on the operation mode of GaAs PCSS based on a semi-insulating wafer with a thickness of 1 mm, triggered by a 1064-nm extrinsic laser beam with the rectangular spot, has been investigated experimentally. It is found that the variation of the spot size in length and width can act on the different parts of the output waveform integrating the characteristics of the linear and nonlinear modes, and then significantly boosts the PCSS toward different operation modes. On this basis, a two-channel model containing the active and passive parts is introduced to interpret the relevant influencing mechanisms. Results indicate that the increased spot length can peak the amplitude of static domains in the active part to enhance the development of the nonlinear switching, while the extended spot width can change the distribution of photogenerated carriers on both parts to facilitate the linear switching and weaken the nonlinear switching, which have been proved by comparing the domain evolutions under different spot sizes.

Capacitance Dependence of Carrier Transport in Nonlinear GaAs Photoconductive Semiconductor Switch at nJ Optical Excitation

Capacitance Dependence of Carrier Transport in Nonlinear GaAs Photoconductive Semiconductor Switch at nJ Optical Excitation

Reducing Dark-State Current for GaAs Photoconductive Semiconductor Switch by Ultrafine Grinding Process

Reducing Dark-State Current for GaAs Photoconductive Semiconductor Switch by Ultrafine Grinding Process

The Critical State of GaAs Photoconductive Semiconductor Switch in a Capacitive Storage Loop

The Critical State of GaAs Photoconductive Semiconductor Switch in a Capacitive Storage Loop

Optimization design of electrode structure of GaAs photoconductive semiconductor switch

Previous studies revealed that changing the electrode structures of a gallium arsenide photoconductive semiconductor switch (GaAs PCSS) can significantly affect the local electric field and current density at the electrodes. Knowing the optimization of the electrode structures of GaAs PCSS can improve the withstand voltage performance and current carrying capability. In this work, we optimize the surface contact electrode structure of GaAs PCSS, and numerical simulations are performed to systematically study the electric field and current density distribution in the bulk of the device. The result shows that the maximum transverse current density and maximum longitudinal current density of the embedded 172° isosceles trapezoid electrode structure are smaller than other kinds of electrode structures, which is the most favorable for improving the withstand voltage and current carrying capability of GaAs PCSS.

Investigation of Delay Jitter of Avalanche GaAs PCSS for Triggering High-Voltage Gas Switch

The delay jitter characteristics of gallium arsenide (GaAs) photoconductive semiconductor switches (PCSSs) triggered in avalanche mode were experimentally investigated under dc bias. In the dark-state measurement, the PCSS was tested under a 40-kV bias voltage to verify its withstanding voltage and reliability. In the ON-state measurement, the delay jitter time of PCSS at different triggering positions was measured. The experimental results showed that the shortest delay jitter time was obtained when the laser was applied to the middle position of the cathode electrode. To evaluate the long-time stability, the delay-jitter time was recorded after continuous shots. It shows an ascending trend in delay jitter time with the increase in operating shots. The degeneration of the delay jitter time of the PCSS was mainly attributed to the device damage, including electrode ablation and filament current ablation, which was verified by the analysis of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). Furthermore, a bipolar high-voltage gas switch integrated with PCSSs was successfully triggered by a low-energy fiber laser.

Improved Current and Jitter Performances of Photoconductive Semiconductor Switch Based on Reduced Graphene Oxide/Metal Electrode

This letter investigated the characteristics of avalanching gallium arsenide (GaAs) photoconductive semiconductor switches (PCSSs) based on composite electrode. The composite electrode was constructed by a layer of reticular reduced graphene oxide (RGO) and a multi-layer of metal (Ni/Ge/Au/Ni/Au). The structure promotes heat dissipation and improves contact performance between GaAs and metal. The reduction of conducting current and delay jitter degeneration was investigated experimentally with increased shots, and the results demonstrated improved reliability of the PCSS with a reticular-RGO /metal electrode. The maximum of conducting current reduces from 127 A to 120 A after continuously 5000 shots under 38 kV DC bias, and the delay jitter stabilizes at 0.3 ns. The significant improvement of the PCSS with a reticular-RGO /metal electrode was attributed to reduction of interface damage between the substrate and electrode. The stability of PCSS with a reticular-RGO/metal electrode was improved comparing with the conventional PCSS without RGO layer, and the physical reason was also discussed.

Mechanism of avalanche charge domain transport for nonlinear mode of GaAs photoconductive semiconductor switches

Photoconductive semiconductor switch is of significance in the fields of ultafast electronics, high-repetition rate and high-power pulse power system, and THz radiation. The mechanism of the nonlinear mode of the switch is an important area of study. In this work, stable nonlinear wave forms are obtained by a semi-insulating GaAs photoconductive semiconductor switch triggered by a 5-ns laser pulse with pulsed energy of 1 mJ at a wavelength of 1064 nm under a bias of 2750 V. Based on two-photon absorption model, the photogenerated carrier concentration is calculated. The theory analysis and calculation result show that the photogenerated carrier can compensate for the lack of intrinsic carrier, and lead to the nucleation of photo-activated charge domain. According to transferred-electron effect principium, the electric field inside and outside the domain are calculated, indicating that the electric field within the domain can reach the electric field which is much larger than intrinsic breakdown electric field of GaAs material, and results in strong impact avalanche ionization in the bulk of the GaAs switch. According to the avalanche space charge domain, the typical experimental phenomena of nonlinear mode for GaAs switch are analyzed and calculated, the analysis and calculations are in excellent agreement with the experimental results. Based on drift-diffusion model and negative differential conductivity effect, the transient electric field in the bulk of the switch is simulated numerically under the optical triggering condition. The simulation results show that there are moving multiple charge domains with a peak electric filed as high as the intrinsic breakdown electric field of GaAs within the switch. This work provides the experimental evidence and theoretical support for studying the generation mechanism of the nonlinear photoconductive semiconductor switch and the improvement of the photo-activated charge domain theory.

Study on Output Characteristics of 20 kV/100 ns Nonlinear GaAs Photoconductive Semiconductor Switch

In this paper, the output electric pulse characteristics of gallium arsenide photoconductive semiconductor switch (GaAs PCSS) with bias voltage of 20 kV and pulse width of about 100 ns are studied. By designing the reflection and transmission optical paths, the absorption rate of the trigger optical of the GaAs PCSS at a wavelength of 1064 nm was measured to be 24.8%. When the bias voltage is 16 kV-20 kV, the avalanche multiplication rates of carriers are calculated respectively. The relationship between the output current waveform and the residual charge in the energy storage capacitor is analyzed when the bias voltage is 20 kV. And the trend of GaAs PCSS electric field intensity and current waveform change with time. This research will be helpful for the application design of GaAs PCSS under the nonlinear mode with special requirements, and has important significance for the application of frontier science.

Properties of Switching Transient in the Semi-Insulating GaAs Photoconductive Semiconductor Switch With Opposed Contacts

The properties of switching transient in the gallium arsenide photoconductive semiconductor switch (GaAs PCSS) are significant for improving the device lifetime. In this article, the properties of switching transient in the opposed-contact semi-insulating (SI) GaAs PCSS, including the physical process of the ultrafast switching, the characteristics of delayed breakdown, and the current density distribution, are studied, based on an effective 2-D, time-dependent numerical model. The numerical results demonstrate that there exists a positive feedback loop between the increase of the carrier density and the formation and evolution of the avalanche domains, which achieves the ultrafast switching of the opposed-contact SI-GaAs PCSS. The higher bias voltage and triggering optical intensity can promote the earlier formation of the avalanche domains and accelerate the evolution of the domains, leading to a shorter delay time and switching time. The triggering positions determine the distribution of the avalanche domains in the opposed structure, affecting the delay time, among which the cathode triggering leads to the shortest delay time. Current crowding in the opposed structure mainly occurs in the vicinity of the contacts, which first damages the edges of the contacts and makes the areas near the contacts present different failure characteristics. Our analysis indicates that anode triggering is effective for suppressing the current crowding to improve the lifetime of the opposed-contact PCSS.

Evaluation of Pulsed Spark Discharge for Triggering GaAs Photoconductive Semiconductor Switches

In this study, a 3 mm gap GaAs photoconductive semiconductor switch (GaAs PCSS) was triggered by pulsed spark discharge. The typical linear mode of GaAs PCSS was fulfilled at a low bias voltage. The on-state current waveform was similar to that of an optical pulse. The “nonlinear mode” was demonstrated at a bias voltage of 4 kV; concurrently, the peak current and the carriers’ multiplication rate were 33 A and 179, respectively. This study indicates that pulsed spark discharge is a promising candidate light source for the direct triggering of GaAs PCSSs.

Photoexcited carrier dynamics in a GaAs photoconductive switch under nJ excitation

In this article, the bunched transport of photoexcited carriers in a GaAs photoconductive semiconductor switch (PCSS) with interdigitated electrodes is investigated under femtosecond laser excitation. Continuous outputs featuring high gain are obtained for single shots and at 1 kHz by varying the optical excitation energy. An ensemble three-valley Monte Carlo simulation is utilized to investigate the transient characteristics and the dynamic process of photoexcited carriers. It demonstrates that the presence of a plasma channel can be attributed to the bunching of high-density electron–hole pairs, which are transported in the form of a high-density filamentary current. The results provide a picture of the evolution of photoexcited carriers during transient switching. A photoinduced heat effect is analyzed, which reveals the related failure mechanism of GaAs PCSS at various repetition rates.

Pulse Compression Characteristics of an Opposed-Electrode Nonlinear GaAs Photoconductive Semiconductor Switch at 2 μJ Excitation

The investigation of nonlinear transient characteristics of gallium arsenide (GaAs) photoconductive semiconductor switches (PCSS) is of great significance for its applications in pulsed power technology. In this letter, the laser diode (LD) energy of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$2~\mu \text{J}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> is employed to trigger the opposed-electrode GaAs PCSS. The compressed pulse width and increased amplitude are obtained as the bias electric field increases from 6kV/cm to 34kV/cm. It is numerically modeled the transient electric field distribution along the photogenerated carriers&#x2019; transport. Results reveal that pulse compression effect (PCE) can be attributed to the negative differential mobility (NDM) and electric-field screening (EFS) effect. The compression of pulse width on time scale provides a possibility to relieve the heat accumulation on time scale, and further to suppress the device failure for the potential high-repetition-rate applications.

Research on the thermal failure mechanism of an opposed-contact gallium arsenide photoconductive semiconductor switch in avalanche mode

The switching mechanism and the thermal process of a gallium arsenide (GaAs) photoconductive semiconductor switch (PCSS) with an opposed-contact is investigated by numerical simulation of the two-dimensional (2D) structure using temperature-dependent physical parameters of the carriers in GaAs. Triggered by a low-energy laser pulse, the PCSS switches on due to the formation and evolution of multiple powerful avalanche domains. The 2D evolving characteristics of the avalanche domains on the two sides of photogenerated plasma during the switching transient are comparatively analysed. It is found that the ionizing centre of each domain moves with the drift of accumulated electrons inside the domain. Meanwhile, the evolution of avalanche domains causes an obvious thermal effect along the drift path of ionizing centres during the switch-on stage of PCSS. Then, the temperature keeps increasing at the edge of the anode and cathode although the switching current starts dropping after the conduction of PCSS, and finally peaks at ∼491 K and ∼541 K, respectively. The simulation results indicate that the 2D filamentary current flows along the drift path of ionizing centres inside the avalanche domains, which finally leads to filamentary erosion after continuous operation of the PCSS. On the basis of numerical simulation, an experiment with opposed-contact GaAs PCSS with 2.5 mm gap at the bias field of ∼90 kV cm−1 is performed. The thermal erosion is found to initially accumulate at the edge of the electrodes and then spreads along the current channel into the GaAs substrate, which is in accordance with the simulation results and analysis.

Effect of Transition Mechanism of Photon-Induced Carriers on Time Jitter of GaAs Photoconductive Semiconductor Switches

To investigate the effect of photon-induced carrier transition mechanism on switch stability, the time jitters of 2-mm-gap gallium arsenide photoconductive semiconductor switches (GaAs PCSSs) are compared when triggered by lasers of two different wavelengths, i.e., 1064 and 532 nm. The time jitter model is proposed to clarify the synergy of the multiple adjustable macroparameters of trigger conditions. The carrier valley occupation rates with respect to bias electric field are simulated, where the influence of the microprocedures, i.e., carrier generation, carrier intervalley transition, and carrier transportation, is considered. Our experimental results illustrate that the time jitter of the GaAs PCSS exhibits a nonmonotonous behavior and obtains a local minimum at ~3 kV/cm for 1064 nm; however, it shows a monotonous decrease to a constant value at about 3 kV/cm for 532 nm. Our analysis indicates that the discrepancy in GaAs PCSS time jitter is attributed to the difference in the relative fluctuation of the carrier velocity affected by the carrier valley occupation rate. This article is of great significance in optimizing the stability of GaAs PCSS and pulse power system by adjusting the macroparameters in the time jitter model.

Investigation on the Mechanism of Triggering Efficiency of High-Power Avalanche GaAs Photoconductive Semiconductor Switch

In this letter, the triggering efficiency of 1-mm-gap, opposed-contact GaAs Photoconductive Semiconductor Switch (PCSS) is studied in avalanche mode. Compared with the anode-triggered PCSSs, it is found that the cathode-triggered devices are with shorter delay time and lower on-state resistance under the same operation conditions. The delay time jitter of ~45.6 ps is also achieved at the power level of <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\sim 4$ </tex-math></inline-formula> MW by cathode triggering. Then the theory of multiple avalanche domains is introduced to interpret the influence of laser spot location on triggering efficiency by a two-dimensional (2D) device simulation. The delay time and on-state resistance are essentially attributed to the formation time and the density of avalanche domains which are affected by the triggering position.

Electrical Characterizations of 35-kV Semi-Insulating Gallium Arsenide Photoconductive Switch

In this paper, a three-layer GaAs photoconductive semiconductor switch (GaAs PCSS) is designed to withstand high voltage from 20 to 35 kV. The maximum avalanche gain and minimum on-state resistance of GaAs PCSS are 1385 and 0.58 Ω, respectively, which are the highest values reported to date. Finally, the influence of the bias voltage on the avalanche stability is analyzed. The stability of the GaAs PCSS is evaluated and calculated. The results show that the jitter values at the bias voltages of 30 kV and 35 kV are 164.3 ps and 106.9 ps, respectively. This work provides guidance for the design of semiconductor switches with high voltage and high gain.

Investigation of an Opposed-Contact GaAs Photoconductive Semiconductor Switch at 1-kHz Excitation

The transient performance of gallium arsenide (GaAs) photoconductive semiconductor switches (PCSSs) triggered by laser diodes (LDs) at nano-joules (nJ) energy is of great significance for the potential high-power applications at high repetition rates. An opposed-contact GaAs PCSS with Ni/AuGe/WTi/Au electrodes is presented at single-shot and 1-kHz excitation. The influences of bias electric field up to 80 kV/cm on nonlinear characteristics are investigated quantitatively with a carriers' avalanche multiplication factor as high as 0.8×10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">4</sup> . The effect of electric field on the carriers' dynamic process and thermal accumulation in repetitive operation is analyzed. The transient electric field distribution is demonstrated by an ensemble Monte Carlo simulation.

Nanostructure enabled lower on-state resistance and longer lock-on time GaAs photoconductive semiconductor switches.

We report a new, to the best of our knowledge, type of SI-GaAs photoconductive semiconductor switch (PCSS) with nanostructures. Since light can enter from both the top and side surfaces of nanostructures, the effective penetration depth is significantly increased. Lower on-state resistance and a longer lock-on time have been achieved in the nonlinear mode with this design, as well as a lower triggering fluence in the linear mode. This could be highly useful for a variety of applications that require lower on-state resistance and/or longer lock-on time such as pulsed power systems and firing set switches.

Breakdown Behavior of GaAs PCSS with a Backside-Light-Triggered Coplanar Electrode Structure

The competitive relationship between the surface flashover of the coplanar electrodes and the body current channel was investigated. Breakdown behavior of GaAs photo-conductive semiconductor switch (PCSS) with a backside-light-receiving coplanar electrode structure was studied in this paper. GaAs PCSS was triggered by the laser pulse with an extrinsic absorption wavelength of 1064 nm. Special insulating construction was designed for GaAs PCSS, while the surface of the electrodes was encapsulated with transparent insulating adhesive. Our first set of experiments was at a bias voltage of 8 kV, and the surface flashover breakdown of GaAs PCSS was observed with 10 Hz triggering laser pulse. In the second experiment, at a bias voltage of 6 kV, the body current channel breakdown appeared on the backside of the GaAs PCSS. Compared with these results, the existence of a competitive relationship between the surface flashover breakdown and the body current channel breakdown of the GaAs PCSS was confirmed. When the bias voltage is set within a certain range (just reaching avalanche mode), GaAs PCSS with a backside-light-receiving coplanar electrode structure will undergo the body current channel breakdown. This finding is also consistent with the simulation results.