Developing A High Power, Pulsed Uv Led System For Photoconductive Switching Applications

A very compact system integrating a high voltage pulser (up to 250 V) and high power UV LED (365 nm wavelength) was developed for triggering SiC photoconductive semiconductor switches (PCSS). The relationships between LED drive current and forward voltage to optical power were established for currents ranging from 0 A to 100 A at pulse widths ranging from 100 ns to $5 \mu \mathrm {s}$. The maximum optical power observed was 25 W. An optical system composed of a parabolic reflector and short focal length lenses was used to focus the emitted light onto a lateral geometry PCSS. The observed delivery efficiency was 63% onto a target 11 mm in diameter. Using the developed system, a SiC PCSS could be successfully triggered under high impedance load conditions.