LASER CONTROLLED HIGH POWER SEMICONDUCTOR OPENING SWITCH TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

THE CONCEPT FOR A BULK OPTICALLY-CONTROLLED SEMICONDUCTOR SWITCH (BOSS), WHERE TWO DIFFERENT WAVELENGTH LASERS ARE USED TO GENERATE AND QUENCH PHOTOCONDUCTIVITY WAS RECENTLY INTRODUCED BY SCHOENBACH AND LAKDAWALA AT OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY (ODU). INSTEAD OF SUSTAINING PHOTOCONDUCTANCE BYLASER LIGHT, AS IN CONVENTIONAL PHOTOCONDUCTIVE SWITCHES, ONE LASER IS USED TO DRIVE THE SWITCH INTO A CONDUCTIVE STATE WHERE IT REMAINS AND ANOTHER TO QUENCH THE PHOTOCONDUCTANCE ON DEMAND. THIS PROPOSAL IS TO TRANSFER THE TECHNOLOGY FROM ODU TO TETRA CORPORATION AND DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY AS A FAST OPENING BREAKING SWITCH FOR HUNDREDS OF KILOAMPS AND TENS OF KILOVOLTS. THE ISSUE OF THE SWITCH CLOSING AND OPENING HAS BEEN ADDRESSED AT ODU WITH ONE SAMPLE. HOWEVER, THE ISSUE OF FEASIBILITY FOR HIGHCURRENT AND HIGH VOLTAGE APPLICATIONS HAS NOT BEEN ADDRESSED. THE OBJECTIVE OF PHASE I IS TO DETERMINE BOSS SWITCH FEASIBILITY AS A HIGH POWER, HIGH VOLTAGE OPENING SWITCH. SPECIFICALLY, THE OBJECTIVE IS TO 1) FABRICATE A LARGER SAMPLE TO DETERMINE SCALE-UP FEASIBILITY AND REPEATABILITY; 2) CHARACTERIZE THE SAMPLE AND, 3) TEST THE SAMPLE TO DETERMINE POTENTIAL AS A HIGH VOLTAGE PULSED POWEROPENING SWITCH. THESE OBJECTIVES WILL DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY AND LAY THE GROUND WORK FOR DEVELOPMENT OF THE TECHNOLOGY IN PHASE II.