Electroabsorption in high-power photoconductive switches

Photoconductive semiconductor switches are useful for the generation of high voltage electrical pulses with picosecond rise times. In addition, the availability of high power semiconductor laser arrays allows the elimination of large flash-lamp pumped solid state lasers. In this paper, the role of electro-absorption is investigated. A theoretical model has been formulated which combines measured field and wavelength dependent absorption data with a one dimensional drift and diffusion model. The results of the model indicate the existence of optimum parameters for both pump wavelength and pump intensity before a plateau of diminishing returns is achieved. The results along with a detailed explanation of the theoretical formalism is included in the paper.