Demonstration of a frequency-agile RF source configuration using bistable optically controlled semiconductor switches (BOSS)

The processes of persistent photoconductivity followed by photo-quenching have been demonstrated at megawatt power levels in copper-compensated, silicon-doped, semi-insulating gallium arsenide. These processes allow a switch to be developed that can be closed by the application of one laser pulse (/spl lambda/=1.06 /spl mu/m) and opened by the application of a second laser pulse with a wavelength equal to twice that of the first laser (/spl lambda/=2.13 /spl mu/m). The opening phase requires a sufficient concentration of recombination centers (RC) in the material for opening to occur in the subnanosecond regime. These RCs are generated in the bulk GaAs material by fast-neutron irradiation (/spl sim/1-MeV). Neutron-irradiated bistable optically controlled semiconductor switch (BOSS) devices have been opened against a rising average electric field of about 36 kV/cm (18 kV) in a time less than one nanosecond while operating at a repetition rate, within a two-pulse burst, of about 1 GHz. The ability to modify the frequency content of the electrical pulses, by varying the time separation, is demonstrated. Results demonstrating the operation of BOSS devices in a frequency-agile RF source configuration are also discussed.