Characteristic properties of the photosensitive semiconductor gas discharge structure

ii CHARACTERISTIC PROPERTIES OF THE PHOTOSENSITIVE SEMICONDUCTOR GAS DISCHARGE STRUCTURE (Ph. D. Thesis) Hatice Hilal YÜCEL KURT GAZI UNIVERSITY INSTUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY June 2004 ABSTRACT In this study, gas breakdown in air in a planar gas discharge system is studied experimentally at various interelectrode distances L and different inner diameters R of the electrode areas of the semiconductor cathode. The current voltage characteristics of the gas discharge system with a large-diameter GaAs semiconductor cathode have been studied in a wide range of the gas pressure p (28-Î-550 Torr). For the first time, the effects of L/R parameter on the system characteristics have been determined for a gas discharge cell with semiconductor cathode and it is found out that this new parameter is vital for the importance of providing the optimal conditions. Moreover, the behaviour of gas discharge emission has also been identified for different values of diameters J? as a new outcome of gas discharge structure. Due to physical properties, the system can display a very complicated transient behavior before a stationary state is established. In addition, it has been observed that the active properties of the GaAs electrode cause a kind of current oscillations at high electric fields. Observed oscillations is the evidence of occurrence of negative differential resistance (NDR) of the planar semiconductor component. Science Code : 404.05.01. Key Words : Negative differantial resistance, instabilitiy, breakdown, discharge emission, GaAs dedector Page Number : 145 Adviser : Prof. Dr. Bahtiyar SALAMOV