Integrated Computational Investigation of Photoconductive Semiconductor Switches in Pulsed Power Radio Frequency Applications

• Published in: IEEE transactions on plasma science Vol. 44; no. 1; pp. 60 - 70
• Main Authors: Wolfe, Timothy S., Francis, Sarah Ashley, Langley, Derrick, Petrosky, James C., Roos, Jason, Terzuoli, Andrew, Zens, Timothy
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01-01-2016; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Absorption; Antennas; Band gap; Charge carriers; Computation; Computational modeling; Electric power; Ionization; Optical switches; photoconductivity; Photon absorption; Photonic band gap; Photonics; power semiconductor switches; Radio frequencies; Radio frequency; semiconductor device modeling; Semiconductor process modeling; Semiconductors; Switches; Switching; Weight reduction; wide bandgap semiconductors; photoconductivity; wide bandgap semiconductors; Charge carriers; optical switches; semiconductor device modeling; power semiconductor switches
• ISSN: 0093-3813; 1939-9375
• DOI: 10.1109/TPS.2015.2500022

Successful integration of linear-mode photoconductive semiconductor switches (PCSS) into RF pulsing antenna sources may yield higher switching speeds and improved power efficiency over conventional switching methods, while also reducing size/weight. This paper presents a multiphysics computational methodology for studying linear-mode PCSS in a high-power antenna system, with a focus on extrinsically triggered wide-bandgap materials. A comparison with the existing literature reveals crucial performance sensitivities to photon absorption models, as well as encouraging results for the potential of PCSS as high-power switching devices.