Title :
Electrical pulse compression using photoconductive zinc selenide opening switches
Author :
Cho, Pak S. ; Goldhar, Julius ; Lee, Chi H.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. Eng., Maryland Univ., College Park, MD, USA
fDate :
5/1/1994 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
Electrical pulse compression and power gain were observed in an inductive energy storage pulsed power circuit with a photoconductive polycrystalline ZnSe opening switch. The ZnSe opening switch was optically activated by a specially tailored laser pulse operated at the blue-green region. A maximum voltage gain of 8 and a power gain of 64 was obtained with a 509 V DC bias voltage. We observed in the ZnSe opening switch a recoverable breakdown behavior similar to "lock-on" in GaAs. A peak output voltage of 8.9 kV was obtained from a 1 mm thick switch with 5 kV DC bias.<>
Keywords :
II-VI semiconductors; inductive energy storage; optical switches; photoconducting devices; semiconductor switches; zinc compounds; 5 kV; 500 V; 8.9 kV; DC bias voltage; ZnSe; blue-green region; electrical pulse compression; inductive energy storage pulsed power circuit; laser pulse; maximum voltage gain; optically activated; peak output voltage; photoconductive opening switches; polycrystalline; power gain; recoverable breakdown behavior; Energy storage; Optical pulse compression; Optical pulses; Optical switches; Photoconducting devices; Photoconductivity; Pulse circuits; Pulse compression methods; Voltage; Zinc compounds;
Journal_Title :
Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE
