Influence of the incident laser pulse energy on jitter time of GaAs photoconductive semiconductor switches.

We have experimentally investigated the jitter time of a GaAs photoconductive switch (PCSS) when it is triggered by a laser pulse with 30 ns pulse width and 1064 nm wavelength. It is found that the jitter time decreases as the incident laser pulse energy increases from 0.40 to 1.6 mJ. In addition, a theoretical analysis indicates that the jitter time is proportional to relative deviation of the laser pulse energy. This work provides a path to improve the performance of the PCSS, which is used in applications such as a high time precision synchronous control system and ultrawide-band radiation source.