Electron-beam-activated zinc selenide and diamond switches

Karl H. Schoenbach; Mark R. Kennedy; Ravindra P. Joshi; Ralf Peter Brinkmann; Ping-Tong Ho

doi:10.1117/12.59072

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12 May 1992 Electron-beam-activated zinc selenide and diamond switches

Karl H. Schoenbach; Mark R. Kennedy; Ravindra P. Joshi; Ralf Peter Brinkmann; Ping-Tong Ho

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Proceedings Volume 1632, Optically Activated Switching II; (1992) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.59072
Event: OE/LASE '92, 1992, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Abstract

Zinc Selenide, in polycrystalline and single crystal form, and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) grown diamond films were studied with respect to their application as materials for electron-beam activated switches. The hold-off fields of the three materials were found to exceed that of semi-insulating gallium arsenide by at least an order of magnitude. Highest hold-off fields for pulsed voltage operation were recorded for diamond at 1.8 MV/cm. The electron-beam induced conductance in the 1 mm thick single crystal zinc selenide switches reached values of 0.5 (Ωcm²)^-1 with an electron-beam current density of 20 mA/cm² at electron-energies of 150 keV. This corresponds to an electron-beam induced reduction of switch resistance from 10⁸ Ω to 2 Ω per square centimeter. The dominant carrier loss mechanism in the single crystal zinc selenide switch was found to be direct recombination of electron-hole pairs. In this material, the current, after electron-beam turn-off, decays hyperbolically with 90% to 10% falitimes in the range of hundreds of nanoseconds. The electron-beam induced conductivity in CVD grown diamond films of 1 micrometer thickness is due to the subnanosecond carrier lifetime less than three orders lower than that of single crystal zinc selenide. Both materials, single crystal zinc selenide and diamond, showed a lock-on effect in current. For diamond it could be demonstrated, as before for gaffium arsenide, that this effect can be suppressed by proper choice of contacts.

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Karl H. Schoenbach, Mark R. Kennedy, Ravindra P. Joshi, Ralf Peter Brinkmann, and Ping-Tong Ho "Electron-beam-activated zinc selenide and diamond switches", Proc. SPIE 1632, Optically Activated Switching II, (12 May 1992); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.59072

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