A Total Internal Reflection Photoconductive Switch

Journal Article · Fri Mar 08 00:00:00 EST 2019 · IEEE Electron Device Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1109/LED.2019.2903926· OSTI ID:1558851

Bora, Mihail  ^[1]; Voss, Lars F. ^[1]; Grivickas, Paulius V. ^[1]; Hall, David L. ^[1]; Alameda, Jennifer B. ^[1]; Kramer, Noah J. ^[1]; Torres, Andrea M. ^[1]; Conway, Adam M. ^[1]

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1. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

We demonstrate a novel illumination technique for extrinsic photoconductive switches based on the creation of a total internal reflection trap to increase the optical path length. The optimal geometry is a square substrate illuminated from one of the corners along the diagonal, ensuring that the total internal reflection condition is maintained after any reflection off the device lateral sides. The optical absorption uniformity throughout the device bulk was improved by designing the entry window to have a cylindrical shape and by using a square core optical fiber as an illumination source. In conclusion, the concept is experimentally validated on a vanadium-doped silicon carbide device that shows approximately four-fold improvement in responsivity compared to normal illumination.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC52-07NA27344
• OSTI ID: 1558851
• Report Number(s): LLNL-JRNL-764480; 954505
• Journal Information: IEEE Electron Device Letters, Vol. 40, Issue 5; ISSN 0741-3106
• Publisher: IEEE
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
optical trapping
photoconductivity
silicon carbide
total internal reflection