Characteristics of Trap-Filled GaAs Photoconductive Switches Used in High Gain Pulsed Power Applications

We have presented experimental and simulation results for a SI GaAs and discussed the results in terms of the dominance of the trap levels in determining the I–V characteristics of the devices. Experimental results and simulation analyses indicate that, when subjected to neutron irradiation, there is an improvement in the hold-off characteristics of the devices, which may lead to higher voltage operation and thus an improvement in the rise time of the device. The maximum energy transferred to the load would increase, thereby improving the overall device characteristics. The filamentary conduction processes of the PCSS are more susceptible to failure if a large number of defect sites are formed in the device during a radiation transient. This is mainly because defects are expected to bring about inhomogeneous conduction.