High-power high-repetition-rate operation of a bistable optically controlled semiconductor switch (BOSS)

David C. Stoudt; Michael A. Richardson; Heather D. Willie; David L. Demske

doi:10.1117/12.198653

4 January 1995 High-power high-repetition-rate operation of a bistable optically controlled semiconductor switch (BOSS)

David C. Stoudt, Michael A. Richardson, Heather D. Willie, David L. Demske

Proceedings Volume 2343, Optically Activated Switching IV; (1995) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.198653
Event: Photonics for Industrial Applications, 1994, Boston, MA, United States

Abstract

Recent high-power, subnanosecond-switching results of the Bistable Optically controlled Semiconductor Switch (BOSS) are presented. The processes of persistent photoconductivity followed by photo-quenching have been demonstrated at megawatt power levels in copper-compensated, silicon-doped, semi-insulating gallium arsenide. These processes allow a switch to be developed that can be closed by the application of one laser pulse ((lambda) equals 1.06 micrometers ) and opened by the application of a second laser pulse with a wavelength equal to twice that of the first laser ((lambda) equals 2.13 micrometers ). Switch closure is primarily achieved by elevating electrons from a deep copper center which has been diffused into the material. The opening phase is a two-step process which relies initially on the absorption of the 2-micrometers laser causing electrons to be elevated from the valance band back into the copper center, and finally on the recombination of electrons in the conduction band with boles in the valance band. The second step requires a sufficient concentration of recombination center (RC) in the material for opening to occur in the subnanosecond regime. These RC's are generated in the bulk GaAs material by fast-neutron irradiation (approximately equals 1-MeV) at a fluence of about 3 X 10¹⁵ cm^-2. Neutron-irradiated BOSS devices have been opened against a rising average electric field of about 36 kV/cm (18 kV) in a time less than one nanosecond while operating at a repetition rate, within a two-pulse burst, of about 1 Ghz.

Citation Download Citation

David C. Stoudt, Michael A. Richardson, Heather D. Willie, and David L. Demske "High-power high-repetition-rate operation of a bistable optically controlled semiconductor switch (BOSS)", Proc. SPIE 2343, Optically Activated Switching IV, (4 January 1995); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.198653

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