Integrated computational study of an optoelectronic pulsed power radio frequency source

The integration of optoelectronic devices, such as photoconductive semiconductor switches (PCSS), into existing antenna source architectures for the generation of radio frequency (RF) pulses may yield higher switching speeds and improved power efficiency over conventional switching methods while reducing size/weight. The key enabling technologies for this design include semi-insulating wide bandgap materials and extrinsic photoconduction: Both of which involve physical models that still require further investigation. This paper presents a computational methodology for studying a novel PCSS design based on existing data through the use of multiple integrated solvers for each major physical domain. In addition, it presents a comparison to current literature on modern conventional and optical switching systems for pulsed radiating systems.