GaAs-based opto-thyristor for pulsed power applications

Author

Hur, Jung H. ; Hadizad, Peyman ; Hummel, Steven G. ; Dzurko, Kenneth M. ; Dapkus, P.Daniel ; Fetterman, Harold R. ; Gundersen, Martin A.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng.-Electrophys., Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Volume

37

Issue

12

fYear

1990

fDate

12/1/1990 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

2520

Lastpage

2525

Abstract

An optically gated GaAs bipolar junction thyristor, with a semi-insulating base layer, has been studied, and the characteristics of the device as a pulsed power switch are presented. The maximum DC blocking voltage of the device was larger than 800 V, the maximum peak current in pulsed mode was higher than 300 Å, and the current rate of rise was better than 1.5×10¹⁰ A/s. These results demonstrate that GaAs-based junction devices have significant potential as switching elements for pulsed power systems requiring very fast closing times

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; gallium arsenide; photoconducting devices; pulsed power technology; thyristors; DC blocking voltage; GaAs bipolar junction thyristor; closing times; maximum peak current; opto-thyristor; pulsed mode; pulsed power applications; pulsed power switch; semi-insulating base layer; switching elements; Gallium arsenide; III-V semiconductor materials; Optical materials; Optical pulses; Optical switches; Photonic band gap; Power semiconductor switches; Pulse power systems; Thyristors; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Devices, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9383

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/16.64528

Filename

64528