Theoretical and practical aspects of three-terminal silicon heterostructure switches

The electrical switching characteristics of three-terminal silicon heterostructure switches in the presence and absence of DC base excitation are reported. A comparison of base-current dependence characteristics for two switches with different epilayer doping concentrations and epilayer layer thickness is also presented. Device switching and holding voltages and currents are found to be dependent on epilayer thickness and doping concentration. A qualitative comparison of theoretically calculated and experimentally measured current-voltage characteristics is made. Good correlation between the calculated and measured switching and holding voltages and currents is obtained for grounded emitter and grounded collector carrier injection.