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

Abstract

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.