Effect of illumination uniformity on GaAs photoconductive switches

Author

Donaldson, William R. ; Mu, Liyue

Author_Institution

Lab. for Laser Energetics, Rochester Univ., NY, USA

Volume

30

Issue

12

fYear

1994

fDate

12/1/1994 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

2866

Lastpage

2874

Abstract

The dynamic behavior of a GaAs photoconductive switch was studied with an electro-optic imaging system during the first 2 ns after optical illumination. The switch behavior changed as a function of the spatial distribution of the optical illumination. Symmetric and asymmetric illumination schemes were investigated experimentally with our electro-optic imaging system. The electric fields were significantly enhanced in the regions of low photo-carrier density. Approximately 1 ns after illumination the simple longitudinal variation of the electric field gave way to nonuniform transverse structure. The experimental results were modeled by treating the switch as an integral part of a transmission line consisting of discrete elements. The experimental results matched the predictions of the transmission-line model in terms of the electric-field enhancements and efficiency

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; electric fields; gallium arsenide; integrated optics; optical switches; photoconducting devices; photoconducting switches; transmission line theory; 1 ns; 2 ns; GaAs; GaAs photoconductive switches; asymmetric illumination schemes; discrete elements; dynamic behavior; electric fields; electric-field enhancements; electro-optic imaging system; illumination uniformity; longitudinal variation; low photo-carrier density; nonuniform transverse structure; optical illumination; spatial distribution; switch behavior; symmetric illumination schemes; transmission line; transmission-line model; Conductivity; Gallium arsenide; Lighting; Nonlinear optics; Optical imaging; Optical pulses; Optical switches; Photoconductivity; Power transmission lines; Ultrafast optics;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/3.362723

Filename

362723