High Current, Multi-Filament Photoconductive Semiconductor Switching
Abstract
High current switching is the most critical challenge remaining for photoconductive semiconductor switch (PCSS) applications in Pulsed Power. Many authors have described the advantageous properties of high gain PCSS such as, low optical trigger energy and inductance, sub-nanosecond risetime and jitter, optical isolation and control, pulsed or DC charging, and long device lifetime, provided the current per filament is limited to 20-30A for short pulse (10-20ns) applications[1,2]. Low energy optical triggering, long device lifetime, and current filaments are related features of high gain PCSS that make high current switching a challenge. Since the location and number of current filaments can be controlled with parallel lines of optical pulses across the insulating gap, the problem of high current, multi-filament PCSS switching is essentially the problem of producing a reliable, efficient, multi-line, optical delivery system[3 In this paper, several classes of optical delivery systems will be discussed: line-of-sight plastic and glass micro-lens arrays, multi-mode fiber-optic/micro-lens combinations, single-mode fiber-optic/micro-lens array combinations, and masked PCSS alone and with other optical concentrating components. The application dependent advantages and disadvantages of each approach will be discussed. Results will be shown from specific examples (plastic and glass micro-lens arrays, single and multi-mode fibers and bundles, and high density optically masked PCSS) that have been tested and demonstrated.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2011
- Accession Number
- ADA607026
Entities
People
- A. Mar
- F. J. Zutavern
- G. M. Loubriel
- K. H. Greives
- M. E. Swalby
- M. J. Cich
- N. D. Keator
- R. T. Collins
- S. F. Glover
Organizations
- Sandia National Laboratories