Fabrication and design issues of bulk photoconductive switches used for ultra-wideband, high-power microwave generation

Author

Buchwald, W.R. ; Balekdjian, A. ; Conrad, J. ; Burger, J.W. ; Schoenberg, J.S.H. ; Tyo, J.S. ; Abdalla, M.D. ; Ahern, S.M. ; Skipper, M.C.

Author_Institution

Res. Lab., US Army, Fort Monmouth, NJ, USA

Volume

2

fYear

1997

fDate

June 29 1997-July 2 1997

Firstpage

970

Abstract

The Army Research Laboratory (ARL), in collaboration with the Air Force Phillips Laboratory, has been developing the fabrication process for lateral topology, high-power photoconductive semiconductor switches (PCSS) used in phased-array, ultra-wideband (UWB) sources. This work presents issues associated with the development of these switches. First-generation devices (1.0 cm gap spacing) have been shown to achieve sub-nanosecond risetimes, working hold-off voltages of 50 kV, switched currents of 333 A into a 75 /spl Omega/ load, and lifetimes in excess of 2/spl times/10/sup 6/ shots at 10 Hz. Later-generation devices (0.25 gap spacing) operate at 20 kV and 1 kHz, with improved risetimes, jitter characteristics, and trigger requirements.

Keywords

antenna phased arrays; microwave generation; photoconducting switches; pulsed power switches; 0.25 cm; 1 cm; 1 kHz; 20 kV; 333 A; 50 kV; 75 ohm; Air Force Phillips Laboratory; Army Research Laboratory; bulk photoconductive switches; fabrication process; high-power photoconductive semiconductor switches; jitter characteristics; lateral topology; phased-array ultra-wideband sources; risetimes; sub-nanosecond risetimes; switched currents; trigger requirements; ultra-wideband high-power microwave generation; Collaborative work; Fabrication; Jitter; Laboratories; Photoconducting devices; Photoconductivity; Switches; Topology; Ultra wideband technology; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Pulsed Power Conference, 1997. Digest of Technical Papers. 1997 11th IEEE International

Conference_Location

Baltimore, MA, USA

Print_ISBN

0-7803-4213-5

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/PPC.1997.674519

Filename

674519