Characteristics of GaAs PCSS triggered by 1 μJ laser diode

Various kinds of switches exhibit significant function in the field of pulse power. Among them Photoconductive Semiconductor Switch (PCSS) stands out because of its numerous advantages, such as low time jitter, fast response, high repetition rate, compact size, easy integration and so on. Laser Diode (LD) is small in size, low-cost and can be easily integrated compared with traditional laser devices. Waveguide tube is a kind of laser transmission device. By using LDs which emits laser pulse with a dominant wavelength of 905 nm and a waveguide tube, three different shapes of laser spot are obtained to trigger a semi-insulating GaAs PCSS which has vertical structure. Laser energy and laser power are fixed to 1 μJ and 33.3 W separately. As the illuminating area on the PCSS differs with different shapes of laser spot, the influences of average trigger energy per unit area to the output characteristics of the PCSS are studied. The experiment results demonstrate that not only the total trigger energy but also the energy density influences the characteristics of PCSS. This paper presents related experiment results, and some further discussions are given.