Investigation of electric field threshold of GaAs photoconductive semiconductor switch triggered by 1.6 μJ laser diode

A 3-mm-gapped GaAs photoconductive semiconductor switch is triggered by a 1.6 mu J laser diode. Effects of the rectangular spot's layout and the triggering position on the electric field threshold of nonlinear mode are investigated. As the illuminated position moves from the cathode to the anode, the effective illumination optical energy varies. In that case, when the rectangular spot is perpendicular to two electrodes the electric field threshold increases linearly. And when the rectangular spot is parallel to the electrodes, the electric field threshold exhibits an asymmetric parabola-like curve. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.