Pulse compression photoconductive semiconductor switches

1. A method of operating a photoconductive switch that includes two electrodes and a light absorbing material positioned therebetween, the method comprising:

selecting or obtaining a value for the following parameters:

(a) a voltage for generation of an electric field, and

(b) one or more of: a spot size of a laser pulse, a temporal pulse width of the laser pulse, or an intensity of the laser pulse,

wherein the selected or obtained values for the parameters enable the photoconductive switch to operate in a region where the light absorbing material exhibits negative differential mobility (NDM); and

illuminating the light absorbing material with the laser pulse to generate a charge cloud within the light absorbing material, wherein the charge cloud travels in a direction of a first electrode or a second electrode of the two electrodes, and becomes compressed in a spatial domain prior to being collected by the first electrode or the second electrode, thereby generating an output current.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the photoconductive switch is configured to generate substantially no output current subsequent to the collection of the charge cloud by the first or the second electrodes and until another generated charge cloud reaches either the first or the second electrode.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the light absorbing material is configured as a layer.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the charge cloud is compressed in both the spatial domain and a temporal domain.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the values for the parameters are selected or obtained based on at least one of a length of the photoconductive switch and an optical generation rate.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving one or more additional laser pulses; and

producing one or more corresponding charge clouds.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein a pulse period of the output current is shorter than a temporal width of the laser pulse.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the light absorbing material comprises gallium arsenide (GaAs), gallium nitride (GaN), indium phosphide (InP), cadmium telluride (CdTe), or indium antimonide (InSb).

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the first electrode and the second electrode comprise a metal or a metallic alloy.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein a velocity of the charge cloud in the light absorbing material increases as the electric field increases up to a saturation value (E sat ) and then decreases as the electric field increases beyond E sat .

11. A photoconductive switch, comprising:

a first electrode;

a second electrode; and

a photoconductive material positioned between the first and second electrodes and configured to receive a laser pulse,

wherein the photoconductive material operates in a region with negative differential mobility (NDM) upon selection of predetermined operating conditions based on the following selected or obtained parameter values :

(a) a voltage for generation of an electric field,

(b) a length of the photoconductive switch, and

(c) one or more of: a spot size of the laser pulse, a temporal pulse width of the laser pulse, or an intensity of the laser pulse.

12. The photoconductive switch of claim 11 , wherein the photoconductive switch comprises a lateral architecture, and wherein:

the first electrode is positioned at a first end of the photoconductive switch,

the second electrode is positioned at a second end of the photoconductive switch,

the photoconductive material is a layer in between the first electrode and the second electrode, and

an aperture is positioned on top of the photoconductive material to restrict an incidence of the laser pulse.

13. The photoconductive switch of claim 11 , wherein the photoconductive switch comprises a vertical architecture, and wherein:

the first electrode is positioned at a top section of the photoconductive switch,

a first layer of non-absorbing material is positioned below the first electrode,

the photoconductive material is a layer that is positioned below the first layer of non-absorbing material,

a second layer of non-absorbing material is positioned below the photoconductive material, and

the second electrode is positioned below the second layer of non-absorbing material.

14. The photoconductive switch of claim 13 , wherein the selected or obtained parameter values further include a doping level of the first layer of non-absorbing material, the photoconductive material, or the second layer of non-absorbing material.

15. The photoconductive switch of claim 11 , further comprising:

an aperture positioned on the photoconductive material to restrict an incidence of the laser pulse.

16. The photoconductive switch of claim 11 , wherein the photoconductive material comprises gallium arsenide (GaAs), gallium nitride (GaN), indium phosphide (InP), cadmium telluride (CdTe), or indium antimonide (InSb).

17. The photoconductive switch of claim 11 , wherein the first electrode and the second electrode comprise a metal or a metallic alloy.

18. The photoconductive switch of claim 11 , wherein the spot size of the laser pulse ranges from 2 μm to 5 μm, wherein the length of the photoconductive switch ranges from 10 μm to 25 μm, wherein the temporal pulse width of the laser pulse ranges from 1 ps to 10 ps, and wherein a wavelength of the laser pulse is 532 nm.

19. The photoconductive switch of claim 18 , wherein an optical generation rate of the photoconductive material is 10 25 cm −3 /s.

20. The photoconductive switch of claim 11 , wherein a velocity of a charge cloud in the photoconductive material increases as the electric field increases up to a saturation value (E sat ) and then decreases as the electric field increases beyond E sat .