Characterization of photoconductive semiconductor switches under nonlinear mode condition

High power, longevity gallium arsenide photoconductive semiconductor switches

“…(2) Under an input bias of U = 30 kV, the output voltages are U = 26 kV (peak power µJ is applied. This indicates that there exists not only a threshold of bias electric field but also a threshold of optical energy for the transition of the PCSS from a linear mode to the nonlinear mode [20]. (4) Figure 5(b) shows a nonlinear exponential relationship between the VCR and the input bias.…”

“…The experimental results of [20] demonstrate that there is a sudden steep change in the VCR as the PCSS enters the nonlinear modes. There are many theoretical models in an attempt to explain these experimental phenomena.…”

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

“…When L s increases from 2 mm to 4.5 mm, the falling edge of the output waveform uplifts gradually, forming a new peak (B), which will replace the previous peak (A) and dominate the increase of the output amplitude. The obvious double-peak characteristic can be observed under L s = 3.0 mm, which indicates that the PCSS is operating in the transition from the linear mode to the nonlinear mode [20,21], allowing us to analyze the evolution of the operation mode influenced by the variation of spot length. Here, the main part around peak A corresponds to the linear switching and the part around peak B corresponds to the nonlinear switching.…”

“…The "two-channel" numerical model based on the theory of multiple avalanche domains has been demonstrated to be effective for interpreting the transitional switching transient of GaAs PCSS [20]. To further elucidate the inner domain dynamics influenced by the spot size, this predefined numerical model is introduced to simulate the GaAs PCSS.…”