GaAs based opto-thyristor for pulsed power applications

Author

Hur, J.H. ; Hadizad, P. ; Hummel, S.G. ; Dzurko, K.M. ; Dapkus, P.D. ; Gundersen, M.A. ; Fetterman, H.R.

Author_Institution

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

fYear

1989

fDate

3-6 Dec. 1989

Firstpage

401

Lastpage

404

Abstract

An optically gated, GaAs bipolar junction thyristor with a semi-insulating base layer, specifically developed for pulsed power applications, is reported, and initial device performance characteristics as a pulsed power switch are presented. The measured DC blocking voltage of the device was >600 V, peak pulsed current was >or=70 A, and the current rise rate was >1.4*10/sup 9/ 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; pulsed power technology; semiconductor device testing; semiconductor switches; thyristor applications; thyristors; 600 V; 70 A; DC blocking voltage; GaAs; based junction devices; bipolar junction thyristor; current rise rate; fast closing times; initial device performance characteristics; optically gated; opto-thyristor; peak pulsed current; pulsed power applications; pulsed power switch; semi-insulating base layer; significant potential; switching elements; Gallium arsenide; MOCVD; Optical pulses; Optical saturation; Optical switches; Photonic band gap; Power semiconductor switches; Pulse measurements; Pulse power systems; Thyristors;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Electron Devices Meeting, 1989. IEDM '89. Technical Digest., International

Conference_Location

Washington, DC, USA

ISSN

0163-1918

Print_ISBN

0-7803-0817-4

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IEDM.1989.74307

Filename

74307