Photoconductive semiconductor switching (PCSS) devices have unique characteristics to address the growing need for electrically isolated, optically gated, picosecond-scale jitter devices capable of operating at high voltage, current, and frequency. The state of the art in material selection, doping, triggering, and system integration in PCSSs is presented. The material properties and doping considerations of GaN, GaAs, SiC, diamond, and β-Ga₂O₃ in the fabrication of PCSS devices are discussed. A review of the current understanding of the physics of the high-gain mode known as lock-on is presented.

A number of complementary experimental characterization tools and theoretical band structure methods were used to determine unambiguously the band-edge luminescence as a function of Al concentration, and to place an upper limit on the short-wavelength emission of InAlGaP alloys lattice matched to GaAs. In particular, the direct-to-indirect band-gap crossing has been determined by analyzing a series of metalorganic vapor-phase-epitaxy-grown ${\mathrm{In}}_{0.49}$(${\mathrm{Al}}_{\mathit{y}}$ ${\mathrm{Ga}}_{1\mathrm{-}\mathit{y}}$ ${)}_{0.51}$P alloys lattice matched to GaAs with double-crystal x-ray analysis, Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy, pressure- and temperature-dependent photoluminescence, and transmission electron microscopy. The experimental measurements are compared to first-principles plane-wave pseudopotential band structure calculations for the ternary end points, InGaP and InAlP. The maximum room temperature direct band gap is found to be 2.24 eV, corresponding to an Al composition of y=0.52±0.02, in good agreement with the theoretical prediction of 0.58±0.05. © 1996 The American Physical Society.

Radiation-induced interface trap buildup is a strong function of hydrogen content in the semiconductor materials, which is quantitatively mapped to percent of hydrogen in the semiconductor packaging using a combination of experimental and simulation-base approaches.