Analysis of Nonlinear Photoconductive (NLP) Switching in Bulk GaAs

This paper presents a numerical analysis of nonlinear photoconductive (NLP) switching in bulk gallium arsenide. NLP switches are optically activated switches in which the number of electron-hole pairs initially created are multiplied through a nonlinear process. This process is a combination of double injection, trap filling, and avalanche. NLP switches differ from linear photoconductive (LP) switches in which one photon creates one electron-hole pair. The numerical method used to solve the governing NLP switch equations and preliminary results from the computer model are presented.