High power, longevity gallium arsenide photoconductive semiconductor switches

A GaAs Photoconductive Semiconductor Switch (PCSS) with a 3-mm gap between the two opposed contact electrodes was developed with carefully chosen GaAs material, mechanical structure design, contact fabrication techniques and its insulation protection. It is charged by a pulse power supply under a bias of 15 kV, illuminated by laser pulses of 1064 nm in wavelength, 56.12 mu J in optical energy per shot and 1 kHz pulse repetition rate (PRR). The GaAs PCSS can last for more than 3.6x10(6) shots and produce output pulses of 2 MW in peak power, 2 ns pulse duration and 65 ps time jitter from a 50-Omega load of the oscilloscope. When an electric field of 100 kV/cm bias was applied, the peak power of the load was measured at 10 MW. A series of measurements on the voltage conversion rates (VCR) and time jitters have been carried out as the bias voltage increases. In particular, taking into account the dependence of optical absorption coefficient on the bias voltages, the curve of the VCR changes with the bias voltages were analyzed quantitatively.