Abstract
ABSTRACTA high performance, Al0.3Ga0.7As/GaAs based, optically gated thyristor with a bulk semi-insulating(SI) GaAs 650 μm in thickness as the voltage blocking layer has been fabricated and characterized for high power pulsed switching applications. Low temperature(LT) GaAs was used to passivate the device surface and was found to greatly improve the switch hold-off voltage. The switched current as a function of bias up to 2,200 V (34 kV/cm) has been tested and the maximum switched current was 240 A with a di/dt equal to 2.02×1010 A/s. The forward dynamic current-voltage characteristics have been measured and the dissipated energy per switching determined. It was found that very sensitive triggering of the switch is possible, even with a light emitting diode operating in the sub-mW range, when the thyristor is reverse biased. The sensitive triggering is a result of the carrier tunneling through the reverse biased pn junctions.
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