LIGHT ACTIVATED SWITCHES FOR MEGAHERTZ PULSED INDUCTION ACCELERATOR

THERE IS A CONSIDERABLE NEED FOR HIGH POWER JITTER-FREE SWITCHING IN THE SDIO INDUCTION ACCELERATOR PROGRAM. THE HIGH POWER SWITCHES CURRENTLY AVAILABLE ARE MAINLY BASED ON AN ELECTRICAL DISCHARGE IN GAS OR VACUUM, AND THEREFORE HAVE CERTAIN LIMITATIONS IN PULSE RISETIME, REPETITION RATE, TEMPORAL JITTER, RELIABILITY, LIFETIME RECOVERY, SWITCH SIZE, AND SWITCH WEIGHT. AN ALTERNATIVE HIGH POWER SWITCH TECHNOLOGY, BASED ON A LIGHT ACTIVATED SEMICONDUCTOR SWITCH, IS PROPOSED WHICH EXCEED THE LIMITATIONS OF DISCHARGE TUBES. THIS TYPE OF SWITCH CONSISTS OF BACK-BIASED SEMICONDUCTING JUNCTION WHICH, IN THE OPEN STATE, HAS NO CARRIERS IN THE CONDUCTION BAND AND THEREFORE BLOCKS THE FLOW OF CURRENT. THE SUDDEN GENERATION OF CARRIERS BY THE ABSORPTION OF A LASER PULSE CLOSES THE SWITCH AND LARGE CURRENTS CAN FLOW. THIS TYPE OF DEVICE CAN SWITCH LARGE POWERS AT HIGH POWER DENSITIES AND CAN THEREFORE BE ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE SMALLER THAN AN EQUIVALENT DISCHARGE TUBE. THE SOLID STATE RISETIMES IN THE REGION OF 100 PSEC OR LESS, AND LONGER LIFETIME THAN CONVENTIONAL SWITCHES, ALONG WITH ESSENTAILLY JITTER-FREE OPERATION. FINALLY, DUE TO THE HIGH POWER DENSITIES AVAILABLE, CONSIDERABLE SAVINGS WILL BE MADE IN SPACE AND WEIGHT.