Effects of trigger laser pulse width on the jitter time of GaAs photoconductive semiconductor switch

The effects of trigger laser pulse width on the jitter time of a GaAs photoconductive semiconductor switch (PCSS) is investigated in the experiment. The laser is split into two optical beams by a cross grating to excite two 3 mm gap GaAs PCSSs in parallel at the same time. This work reveals that the jitter time of the GaAs PCSS is reduced as the trigger laser pulse width decreases. Our results overcome a significant obstacle that hinders the testing and theory of GaAs PCSSs in high-time-precision synchronous control. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America