Peculiar Photoconduction in Semi-Insulating GaAs Photoconductive Switch Triggered by 1064nm Laser Pulse

The peculiar photoconduction in semi insulating GaAs photoconductive switch being triggered by 1064nm laser pulse is reported.The gap between two electrodes of the switch is 4mm.When it is triggered by laser pulse with energy of 0 8mJ and the pulse width of 5ns,and operated at biased electric field of 2 0 and 6 0kV/cm,both linear and nonlinear modes of the switch are observed respectively.Whereas the biased electric field adds to 9 5kV/cm,and the triggered laser is in range of 0 5～1 0mJ,the peculiar performed characteristic is observed:the switch gives a linear waveform firstly,and then after a delay time of about 20～250ns,it outputs a nonlinear waveform again.The physical mechanism of this specific phenomenon is associated with the anti site defects of semi insulating GaAs and two step single photon absorption.The delay time between linear waveform and nonlinear waveform is calculated,and the result matches the experiments.

Ultra-Wideband Electromagnetic Radiation from GaAs Photoconductive Switches

The experiment results of ultrawide band electromagnetic radiation with DC biased GaAs photoconductive semiconductor switch combining double ridge horn antenna triggered by high repeat frequency femto-second laser pulse are reported.The GaAs switches are insulated by solid multi-layer transparent dielectrics and the distance of two electrodes is 3mm.The electrode material of the switch is ohmic contact through alloy technics with definite proportion of Au/Ge/Ni.This switch and double ridge horn antenna are integrated and the receive antenna is connected with the test instrument.From receiving antenna,ultra fast electrical pulse of 200ps rise time and 500ps pulse width is obtained,the repetition rate of the pulse is about 82MHz and the frequency spectrum is in the range of 4.7MHz～14GHz.The radiation characteristic of the ultrafast electrical pulse is analyzed.

Optically Activated Charge Domain Model for High-Gain GaAs Photoconductive Switches

A model for theoretical analysis of nonlinear (or high gain) mode of photoconductive semiconductor switches (PCSS's) is proposed.The switching transition of high gain PCSS's can be described with an optically activated charge domain. The switching characteristics including rise time,delay and their relationship to electric field strength,optical trigger energies are discussed.The formation and radiation transit,accumulation of the charge domain are related with the triggering and sustaining phases of PCSS's,respectively.The results of the mathematical model on this mechanism agree with experimental results.

Investigation of GaAs Photoconductive Switch Irradiated by 1553nm Laser Pulse

Gallium arsenide (GaAs) photoconductive semiconductor switches (PCSS's) with a 1.55mm gap spacing trigged by 1553nm femtosecond fiber laser pulse is presented.The switches are biased with 3.33～10.3kV/cm and irradiated by femtosecond fiber laser operated at a wavelength of 1553nm with pulse width of 200fs and pulse energy of 0.2nJ.The experiments show that,even if the semi-insulating GaAs photoconductive switch operates under the electrical field of 10.3kV/cm,it will be still linear response,and a clear corresponding output electric pulse with the peak voltage of 0.8mV is captured.From the weak photoconductivity on laser intensity,photoabsorption mediated by EL2 deep level defects is suggested,as the primary process for the photoconductivity.

Photovoltaic Response Characteristics of GaAs Photoconductive Switches Under High Gain Mode

Given is the experiment results in which the laser pulses of 1 046 nm and 532 nm are used to trigger the semi-insulation GaAs photoconductive semiconductor switch(PCSS) with an electrode distance of 4 mm. And made is an analysis of the switchs photovoltaic response characteristics under the high gain mode when the biased field is bigger than the Geng effect field. Also a theory is presented that the main reason for the photovoltaic pulse response delay is the transmission of charge domain, caused by the presence of EL2 energy level in the chip material. Finally, the transmission time of charge domain is calculated and a result that inosculates with the experiment is attained.

Modeling of terahertz pulse generation from LT-GaAs ultrafast photoconductive switches

The technique of terahertz pulses generated from the photoconductive switches has been applied in the ultrafast electrical pulse metrology recently.A lumped-element theoretical model is established to describe the performance of the LT-GaAs ultrafast photoconductive switch used in the ultrafast pulse standard.The carrier transport processes of the photoexcited semiconductor,the attenuation and dispersion during terahertz pulse propagating are considered in the theoretical model.According to the experimental parameters,the waveforms of the generated terahertz pulses are calculated under optical excitations with different wavelengths of 840 nm and 450 nm,respectively.And comparisons between the theoretical results and the experimental results are carried out.

Experimental Research on Inhibition of Surface Flashover Based on High Power Gallium Arsenide Photoconductive Switches Triggered by Laser

Semi-insulating gallium arsenide （GaAs） photoconductive semiconductor switches （PCSS） have great potential for high voltage switching application, however, the utility is restricted by surface flashover which wouId result in breakdown. In this paper, a model of photo-activated charge wave was proposed based on the theory of photo-activated charge domain （PACD） in GaAs PCSS, and moderate suppression of PACD formation by loading the semiconductor surface with dielectric material was investigated theoretically and experimentally. Current as high as 3.7 kA was obtained at 28 kV, implying that this method can effectively inhibit the surface flashover and improve the service life of DC charged GaAs PCSS.

Application of an Al-doped zinc oxide subcontact layer on vanadium-compensated 6H–SiC photoconductive switches

Al-doped ZnO thin film （AZO） is used as a subcontact layer in 6H-SiC photoconductive semiconductor switches （PCSSs） to reduce the on-state resistance and optimize the device structure. Our photoconductive test shows that the onstate resistance of lateral PCSS with an n＋-AZO subcontact layer is 14.7% lower than that of PCSS without an n＋-AZO subcontact layer. This occurs because a heavy-doped AZO thin film can improve Ohmic contact properties, reduce contact resistance, and alleviate Joule heating. Combined with the high transparance characteristic at 532 nm of AZO film, vertical structural PCSS devices are designed and their structural superiority is discussed. This paper provides a feasible route for fabricating high performance SiC PCSS by using conductive and transparent ZnO-based materials.

Performance of Lateral 4H-SiC Photoconductive Semiconductor Switches by Extrinsic Backside Trigger

Photoconductive semiconductor switch(PCSS)can be applied in pulsed high power systems and microwave techniques.However,reducing the damage and increasing the lifetime of silicon carbide(SiC)PCSS are still faced severe challenges.In this study,PCSSs with various structures were prepared on 4-inch diameter,500μm thick high-purity semi-insulating 4H-SiC substrates and their on-state resistance and damage mechanisms were investigated.It was found that the PCSS of an Au/TiW/Ni electrode system annealed at 950℃had a minimum on-state resistance of 6.0Ωat 1 kV bias voltage with a 532 nm and 170 mJ pulsed laser by backside illumination single trigger.The backside illumination single trigger could reduce on-state resistance and alleviate the damage of PCSS compared to the frontside trigger when the diameter of the laser spot was larger than the channel length of PCSS.For the 200 s trigger test by a 10 Hz laser,the black branch-like ablation on Au/TiW/Ni PCSS was mainly caused by thermal stress owing to hot carriers.Replacing metal Ni with boron gallium co-doped zinc oxide(BGZO)thin films annealed at 400℃,black branch-like ablation was alleviated while concentric arc damage was obvious at the anode.The major causes of concentric arc are both pulsed laser diffraction and thermal effect.

Delayed-Dipole Domain Mode of Semi-Insulating GaAs Photoconductive Semiconductor Switches

A mode for the periodicity and weakening surge in semi-insulating GaAs photoconductive semiconductor switches is proposed based on the transferred-electron effect. It is shown that the periodicity and weakening surge is caused by the interaction between the self-excitation of the resonant circuit and transferred electron oscillation of the switch. The bias electric field （larger than Gunn threshold） across the switch is modulated by the AC elec-tric field,when the instantaneous bias electric field E is swinging below Gunn electric field threshold ET but grea-ter than the sustaining field Es （the minimum electric field required to support the domain） at the time of the do-main reaching the anode, and then the delayed-dipole domain mode of switch is obtained. It is the photon-activated carriers that satisfy the requirement of charge domain formation on carrier concentration and device length prod-uct of 10^12 cm^-2,and the semi-insulating GaAs photoconductive semiconductor switch is essentially a type of pho-ton-activated charge domain device.

Transit Properties of High Power Ultra\|Fast Photoconductive Semiconductor Switch

Experiments of a GaAs ultra\|fast Photo\|Conductive Semiconductor Switch (PCSS) are reported. Both the linear and nonlinear modes were observed when triggered by the μJ nano\|second laser. The peak current could be as high as 560A. The rise time of the current pulse responses is less than 200ps when triggered with 76MHz femto\|second laser.

Photon-activated charge domain in high-gain photoconductive switches

We report our experimental observation of charge domain oscillation in semi-insulating GaAs photocon-ductive semiconductor switches (PCSSs). The high-gain PCSS is intrinsically a photon-activated charge domain device. It is the photon-activated carriers that satisfy the requirement of charge domain formation on carrier concentration and device length product of 1012 cm-2. We also show that, because of the repeated process of domain formation, the domain travels with a compromised speed of electron saturation velocity and the speed of light. As a result, the transit time of charge domains in PCSS is much shorter than that of traditional Gunn domains.

Study of photoexcited-carrier dynamics in GaAs photoconductive switches using dynamic terahertz emission microscopy

We propose dynamic terahertz(THz) emission microscopy(DTEM) to visualize temporal–spatial dynamics of photoexcited carriers in electronic materials. DTEM utilizes THz pulses emitted from a sample by probe pulses irradiated after pump pulse irradiation to perform time-resolved two-dimensional mapping of the THz pulse emission, reflecting various carrier dynamics. Using this microscopy, we investigated carrier dynamics in the gap region of low-temperature-grown Ga As and semi-insulating Ga As photoconductive switches of the identical-dipole type. The observed DTEM images are well explained by the change in the electric potential distribution between the electrodes caused by the screening effect of the photoexcited electron-hole pairs.

Transient Characteristics of a Nonlinear GaAs Photoconductive Semiconductor Switch

The transient resistance,voltage,and power of a nonlinear GaAs photoconductive semiconductor switch （PCSS） are presented by the finite difference formula to deal with the experiment data, based on the conversation of energy in the switch circuit. This method resolves the problem of directly measuring the transient characteristics of PCSS in nonlinear mode. The curve of transient voltage shows that the average electric field of PCSS in the lock-on period is always higher than the Gunn threshold,and increases monotonically. By comparing the transient power curves of the PCSS and the electrical source,it is demonstrated directly that the power shortage leads to the PCSS from the lock-on state into the selfturnoff state,so a controllable turnoff of the PCSS in lock-on by changing the distribution of the circuit power is predicted.

Photoconductive semiconductor switch-based triggering with 1 ns jitter for trigatron

Synchronization for multiple-pulse at nanosecond range shows a great value on the power multiplication and synchronous electric fieldsapplications. Nanosecond or sub-ns jitter synchronization is essential for the improved working efficiency of the large amounts of pulse modulesand accurate requirements for the power coherent combining applications. This paper presents a trigger generator based on a laser diodetriggered GaAs photoconductive semiconductor switch (PCSS) with low jitter and compact size characteristics. It avoids the high currentsthat are harmful to high-gain mode PCSSs. In the trigger circuit, a 200 pF capacitor is charged by a microsecond-scale 18 kV pulse and thendischarged via the high-gain mode GaAs PCSS to trigger the high-power trigatron switch. When triggered by the ~10 ns pulse generated by thePCSS, the DC-charged trigatron can operate in the 20e35 kV range with 10 ns rise time and 1 ns delay-time jitter.

Roles of voltage in semi-insulating GaAs photoconductive semiconductor switch

An experimental study of leakage current is presented in a semi-insulating（SI） Ga As photoconductive semiconductor switch（PCSS） with voltages up to 5.8 kV（average field is 19.3 kV/cm）. The leakage current increases nonlinearly with the bias voltage increasing from 1.2×10^-9 A to 3.6×10^-5A. Furthermore, the dark resistance, which is characterized as a function of electric field, does not monotonically decrease with the field but displays several distinct regimes. By eliminating the field-dependent drift velocity, the free-electron density n is extracted from the current, and then the critical field for each region of n（E） characteristic of PCSS is obtained. It must be the electric field that provides the free electron with sufficient energy to activate the carrier in the trapped state via multiple physical mechanisms, such as impurity ionization, fielddependent EL2 capture, and impact ionization of donor centers EL10 and EL2. The critical fields calculated from the activation energy of these physical processes accord well with the experimental results. Moreover, agreement between the fitting curve and experimental data of J（E）, further confirms that the dark-state characteristics are related to these field-dependent processes. The effects of voltage on SI-Ga As PCSS may give us an insight into its physical mechanism.

Experimental investigation of limit space charge accumulation mode operation in a semi-insulating GaAs photoconductive semiconductor switch

Experiments with the limited space-charge accumulation（LSA） mode of oscillation in a large gap semiinsulating （SI） GaAs photoconductive semiconductor switch（PCSS） are discussed.It has been observed that growth and drift of a photo-activated charge domain（PACD） are quenched only when the bias voltage is more than twice the threshold voltage.The original negative resistance characteristics are directly utilized in the LSA mode;during LSA operation the spatial average of the electric field varies over a large portion of the negative differential mobility region of the velocity-electric field characteristic.The work efficiency of an SI GaAs PCSS is remarkably enhanced by electric field excursions into the positive resistance region when the total electric field is only below the threshold part of the time.The LSA mode can only operate in the certain conditions that satisfy the quenching of the accumulation layer and the smaller initial domain voltage.

Optically pumped terahertz sources

High-power terahertz(THz) generation in the frequency range of 0.1-10 THz has been a fast-developing research area ever since the beginning of the THz boom two decades ago, enabling new technological breakthroughs in spectroscopy, communication, imaging,etc. By using optical(laser) pumping methods with near-or mid-infrared(IR) lasers, flexible and practical THz sources covering the whole THz range can be realized to overcome the shortage of electronic THz sources and now they are playing important roles in THz science and technology. This paper overviews various optically pumped THz sources, including femtosecond laser based ultrafast broadband THz generation, monochromatic widely tunable THz generation, single-mode on-chip THz source from photomixing, and the traditional powerful THz gas lasers. Full descriptions from basic principles to the latest progress are presented and their advantages and disadvantages are discussed as well. It is expected that this review gives a comprehensive reference to researchers in this area and additionally helps newcomers to quickly gain understanding of optically pumped THz sources.

Quenched-Domain Mode of Photo-Activated Charge Domain in Semi-Insulating GaAs Devices

The quenched domain mode of the photo-activated charge domain （PACD） in semi-insulating （SI） GaAs photoconductive semiconductor switches （PCSSs） is observed. We find that the quenched domain is induced by the instantaneous electric field across the PCSS being lower than the sustaining electric field of the domain during the transit of the domain. The extinction of the domain before reaching the anode can lead to a current oscillation frequency larger than the transit- time frequency when the bias electric field is lower than the threshold electric field of the nonlinear PCSS. According to the operation circuit and the physical properties of a high-field domain,an equivalent circuit of the quenched domain is presented. The equivalent circuit parameters including capacitance, resonant frequency, and inductance are calculated and measured. Our calculations agree well with the experimental results. This research provides theoretical and experimental criteria for heightening the oscillation frequency and efficiency of PACD devices.