AN LPE GROWN INP BASED OPTOTHYRISTOR FOR POWER SWITCHING APPLICATIONS

This paper presents the results of a new InP based optothyristor for p ulsed high power switching applications and compares them with a tradi tional InP photoconductive switch operating under similar conditions. The optothyristor utilized a semi-insulating InP wafer inserted betwee n the two PN junctions in a conventional thyristor structure. We also determined the dynamic I-V characteristics and the di/dt turn-on param eter for this novel optothyristor. Using a 1.06 mum YAG laser to trigg er the optothyristor, we have achieved a 1200 V (4.8 X 10(4) V/cm) hol d-off voltage with a maximum current of 61 A. The current rise time fo r device turn-on was measured to be consistently under 12 ns, and a ma ximum di/dt of 1.4 x 10(10)) A/s was obtained.