Date of Award

Fall 1989

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Electrical & Computer Engineering

Program/Concentration

Electrical Engineering

Committee Director

Karl H. Schoenbach

Committee Member

Linda L. Vahala

Committee Member

Frederic D. McKenzie

Call Number for Print

Special Collections LD4331.E55 S75

Abstract

An experimental study of the electrical characteristics of semi-insulating gallium arsenide has been performed. The goal of this research was to aid in the development of an electron-beam controlled high-power semiconductor switch. The electrical characteristics were found to be heavily dependent on the deep level configuration of the material being investigated. Two methods of deep level characterization are discussed and their results are compared to the information given by the material manufacturer. Studies were conducted to determine both the steady-state and transient dark current characteristics of the switch. Along with being a function of the applied voltage and the deep level configuration, the dark current was also found to have a temporal development associated with it. The turn-off time of the switch was investigated using a Nd-YAG laser with a FWHM of 3 ns. The material was found to have a recombination lifetime of less than 20 ns. Electron-beam induced conductivity experiments were conducted to test the on-state characteristics of the switch. In experiments on as-grown semi-insulating gallium arsenide, switch current densities of 57 A/cm have been obtained with an electron-beam current density of 26 mA/cm and a beam energy of 155 kev.

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DOI

10.25777/813c-cq35

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