OBSERVATION OF SWITCHING ENERGY-DEPENDENCE ON ILLUMINATING BEAM AREA IN THE VSTEP OPTOELECTRONIC SWITCH

Citation
K. Beyzavi et al., OBSERVATION OF SWITCHING ENERGY-DEPENDENCE ON ILLUMINATING BEAM AREA IN THE VSTEP OPTOELECTRONIC SWITCH, IEEE photonics technology letters, 6(2), 1994, pp. 227-230
Citations number
7
Categorie Soggetti
Optics,"Physics, Applied
ISSN journal
10411135
Volume
6
Issue
2
Year of publication
1994
Pages
227 - 230
Database
ISI
SICI code
1041-1135(1994)6:2<227:OOSEOI>2.0.ZU;2-F
Abstract
We have observed a strong dependence of the optical switching energy o f a p-n-p-n VSTEP device on the area of the illuminated spot. We expla in the area dependence in terms of a long diffusion time (approximatel y 1 mus) required for the photo-generated holes to reach a uniform dis tribution in the depleted p-layer and report results of a carrier diff usion calculation which supports this conclusion. This effect reduces the required optical switching energy by as much as a factor of five f or the devices measured.