An investigation of the temperature and electric field dependence of a GaAs microwave photoconductive switch

Stephen E. Saddow, Bruno J. Thedrez, Sheng Lung L. Huang, Timothy J. Mermagen, Chi H. Lee

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

Abstract

The on-resistance of a GaAs coplanar waveguide-photoconductive switch was characterized as a function of laser photon energy, switch temperature, and applied dc electric field. An electric-fielddependent resonance at photon energies near the GaAs energy band-gap edge has been observed. This resonant behavior is believed to be caused by a competition between carrier recombination in the switch bulk and carrier sweep-out effects near the switch surface. This field-induced resonance was verified with 5, 10 and 20 μm switch gaps that were fabricated on three separate semi-insulating GaAs wafers. For fixed-wavelength laser sources, it has been shown that one can optimize the optical coupling by varying the switch temperature. The switch resistance decreased by a factor of three as a result of an increase in the switch temperature of 20°C at photon energies near the absorption edge. A conductive-mode plasma model has been developed that adequately predicts the nonresonant switch behavior. 89.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)89-96
Number of pages8
JournalProceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Volume1873
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 9 Jun 1993
Externally publishedYes
EventOptically Activated Switching III 1993 - Los Angeles, United States
Duration: 17 Jan 199322 Jan 1993

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