Recovery of high-field GaAs photoconductive semiconductor switches

Zutavern, F.J.; Loubriel, G.M.; O'Malley, M.W.; Schanwald, L.P.; McLaughlin, D.L.

doi:10.1109/16.75191

Cited by 31 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…The bias electric field determines the electron mobility [16]. E is a constant (3.2-4.6 kV/cm) that depends on the GaAs material when the GaAs PCSS operates in the nonlinear mode [17]. Therefore, the ΔT is dominated by the n only at certain bias voltage.…”

Section: A Low Current Casementioning

confidence: 99%

Research on the Failure Mechanism of High-Power GaAs PCSS

Shi

2015

IEEE Trans. Power Electron.

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This paper presents an experimental study on the failure mechanism of high-power Gallium Arsenide (GaAs)-based photoconductive semiconductor switches (PCSS). Two of the typical failure scenarios of high-power GaAs PCSS are discussed: 1) a failure of a 3-mm-gap GaAs PCSS at output current of 45 A and 2) the failure of two 2-mm-gap GaAs PCSSs at output currents of 1.45 and 1.8 kA, respectively. The failure mechanisms of these two cases are analyzed and summarized as follows: The failure of high-power GaAs PCSS is mainly dominated by the development of current filaments under low output currents. A large number of energetic carriers in the bulk region of the current filament can cause the dot damage. When the dot damage is dense enough to form a continuous chain connecting the PCSS electrodes, a damage path is created and a catastrophic breakdown occurs. The thermal stress is the main cause of the failure of high-power GaAs PCSS under high current scenarios. The stress can cause local microscopic fracture on the surface of PCSS. At the time when these local microscopic fractures reach a critical level, a macroscopic fracture occurs resulting in a disintegration of the high-power PCSS.Index Terms-Power semiconductor switches, semiconductor device breakdown, semiconductor device reliability, semiconductor device thermal factors, semiconductor switches.

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Section: A Low Current Casementioning

confidence: 99%

Research on the Failure Mechanism of High-Power GaAs PCSS

Shi

2015

IEEE Trans. Power Electron.

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“…The basic idea is that impact ionization is more efficient at high carrier density. One motivation for this approach is the observation of a stable lock-on state maintained by a field smaller than the threshold field for impact ionization [2,3].…”

Section: Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As many as 10 5 electron-hole pairs are generated per absorbed photon, allowing the use of low power lasers to trigger lock-on (also known as a high gain mode). Furthermore, when the electrode gap is varied, the average lock-on field [2,3] remains constant. Additional studies determined that the current flow is filamentary during lock-on [4,5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For a conventional switch, the "on" state conductivity is proportional to the density of electrons and holes created by the illumination with 1 electron-hole pair created for every photon absorbed [1]. The optically-triggered bistable switches rely on a different mechanism of operation that has been named ''lock-on'' [2,3]. When lock-on occurs, the switch voltage becomes approximately constant, referred to as the lock-on voltage, independent of the power supply voltage [2,3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The optically-triggered bistable switches rely on a different mechanism of operation that has been named ''lock-on'' [2,3]. When lock-on occurs, the switch voltage becomes approximately constant, referred to as the lock-on voltage, independent of the power supply voltage [2,3]. As many as 10 5 electron-hole pairs are generated per absorbed photon, allowing the use of low power lasers to trigger lock-on (also known as a high gain mode).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Simulation of Current Filaments in Photoconductive Semiconductor Switches

Kambour

Hjalmarson

Zutavern

et al. 2005

2005 IEEE Pulsed Power Conference

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Photoconductive semiconductor switches (PCSS's), such as optically-triggered GaAs switches, have been developed for a variety of applications. Such switches exhibit unique properties as a consequence of lock-on, a phenomenon associated with the bistable switching of these devices. In this paper, lock-on is explained in terms of collective impact ionization. Furthermore, the effect of defects on the performance of these devices is investigated.

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A review of modern power semiconductor devices

Hudgins

1993

Microelectronics Journal

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Recovery of high-field GaAs photoconductive semiconductor switches

Cited by 31 publications

References 9 publications

Research on the Failure Mechanism of High-Power GaAs PCSS

Research on the Failure Mechanism of High-Power GaAs PCSS

Simulation of Current Filaments in Photoconductive Semiconductor Switches

A review of modern power semiconductor devices

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