Date of Award

Summer 1993

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Electrical & Computer Engineering

Program/Concentration

Electrical Engineering

Committee Director

Karl Schoenbach

Committee Member

Vishnu K. Lakdawala

Committee Member

Ravindra P. Joshi

Call Number for Print

Special Collections LD4331.E55K465

Abstract

A diagnostic technique has been developed which allows recording of the temporal and spatial development of electric field structures in GaAs photoconductive switches. The optical method is based on the Franz-Keldysh effect. Measurements were performed with a Nd:YAG activation laser and a GaAs laser diode as the probe laser. At low applied voltages a 100 atm wide region of high electric field is seen at the cathode only. With increasing voltage strong domain like structures emerge at the anode also. A calibration measurement shows that the electric fields in these domains are well above 50 kV/cm. At a threshold voltage, current filaments were recorded which cause a permanent current flow, the lock-on current, and at extreme levels permanent damage of the sample.

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DOI

10.25777/se8m-6x17

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