METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SWITCHING ELECTRICAL POWER AT HIGH VOLTAGES, HIGH CURRENTS AND HIGH TEMPERATURES WITH RAPID TURN-ON AND TURN-OFF AT HIGH REPETITION RATES

Methods and apparatus for high voltage, high current, fast acting, high temperature, high repetition rate synthetic diamond electrical switch and an improved particle and radiation detector are disclosed. Energy absorbed from incident electrons, ultraviolet photons or other radiation sources including soft and hard x-rays, gamma rays, alpha particles, other types of ions, neutrons or other sub-atomic particles is used to decrease the resistance of a synthetic (CVD) diamond membrane from its normal, high resistance "off" state to a temporary, low resistance "on" state. The controlled variation of the resistance of the diamond allows the membrane, when connected to an external circuit, to act as a repetitively pulsed electrical switch. Without the particle or radiation energy input, the membrane exhibits its normal very high resistance (for example, greater than 10 OMEGA ) and is in the "off" state with negligible current. With particle or radiation energy input, the resistance plunges to low values (for example, much less than 1 OMEGA ) and the current increases. The superior electrical field strength and thermal conductivity of both natural and synthetic diamond relative to doped silicon semi-conductors allow diamond membranes to hold off higher voltage and operate at higher temperatures than silicon semi-conductor junctions of comparable size. Practical limits to silicon or silicon carbide semi-conductor switches are less than 6 kV voltage hold-off in a single switch that can switch current densities of about 100 A/cm with approximately 1 mu s turn-on and turn-off times. Silicon switches are unidirectional and limited to less than 400 DEG K operation (with respect to operating temperature). L'invention porte sur des procédés et appareils relatifs à un commutateur de diamant synthétique caractérisé par sa résistance aux tensions, intensités et températures élevées, sa rapidité et son rythme élevé de répétitivité, et à un détecteur amélioré de particules et de rayonnement. L'énergie absorbée provenant d'électrons incidents, de photons d'UV, et d'autres sources de rayonnement y compris les rayons x mous et durs, le rayonnement gamma, les particules alpha, et autres types d'ions, de neutrons et autres types de particules subatomiques, abaisse la résistance d'une membrane de diamant synthétique (CVD) la faisant passer de son état normal "de blocage" à forte résistance, à un état temporaire "de passage" à faible résistance. La variation commandée de la résistan