Toward the development of an efficient bulk semi-insulating GaN photoconductive switch

Photoconductive semiconductor switches (PCSS) made from bulk, semi-insulating GaN have been fabricated and tested under pulse-charged conditions. Switching response and photocurrent efficiency of GaN PCSSs triggered by sub-10 ns, 355 nm laser pulses is reported. It is shown that fast rise time (<;300 ns) voltage pulses can be used to charge a GaN PCSS to fields well beyond the DC breakdown field strength of GaN and improve switching performance. GaN's wide band gap, breakdown field strength, and electron mobility make it a material superior to SiC and far superior to GaAs for PCSS applications, though historically these materials have dominated PCSS research due to their relative ease of fabrication. Recent improvements to crystal quality and wafer size have allowed GaN and more recently semi-insulating GaN to play an increasing role in high-power and high-voltage solid state devices.