High-voltage GaAs diodes with subnanosecond gate voltage recovery

High-voltage GaAs switching diodes with subnanosecond characteristic times of reverse current decay on switching from forward to reverse bias were stu died. The diode structures studied had impurity concentration profiles in t he base region close to those of the charge-storage diodes and operated in the regimes corresponding to those employed in silicon-based high-voltage f ast-recovery drift diodes. The application prospects of the proposed GaAs d iodes are demonstrated, for example, in the devices generating pulses with a front width of several hundred picoseconds, a current of several hundred amperes, and a voltage of a several kiloelectronvolts at a frequency of up to several hundred kilohertz. (C) 2001 MAIK "Nauka/Interperiodica".