Cryogenic Silicon Photoconductive Switches For High Power Lasers

R. A. Petr; W. C. Nunnally; C. V. Smith Jr.

doi:10.1117/12.943680

6 April 1988 Cryogenic Silicon Photoconductive Switches For High Power Lasers

R. A. Petr, W. C. Nunnally, C. V. Smith Jr.

Proceedings Volume 0871, Space Structures, Power, and Power Conditioning; (1988) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.943680
Event: 1988 Los Angeles Symposium: O-E/LASE '88, 1988, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Abstract

Silicon photoconductive switches have the potential to replace such plasma discharge switches as sparkgaps and thyratrons that are commonly found in pulsed laser drive circuits. This offers the possibility of developing advanced modulators that are all solid-state, and which enjoy the advantages of improved efficiency, compactness, and life expectancy. Silicon operating at liquid nitrogen temperature is especially attractive as a power switch because at 77K it displays an extremely low coefficient of thermal expansion, a large optical absorption depth for 1.06um light, and a large thermal conductivity. These factors allow low temperature silicon to switch power levels an order of magnitude greater than at 300K, and an experimental cyrogenic silicon switch has been made to switch pulses of 15kV, 1.2kA, 0.5uS duration at 100Hz recurrent frequency. It is shown that silicon switches compare favorably with thyratrons in terms of electrical ratings and energy transfer efficiency, and should be considered in advanced pulser designs for both terrestrial and space applications.

Citation Download Citation

R. A. Petr, W. C. Nunnally, and C. V. Smith Jr. "Cryogenic Silicon Photoconductive Switches For High Power Lasers", Proc. SPIE 0871, Space Structures, Power, and Power Conditioning, (6 April 1988); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.943680

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