Bipolar Gunn Effect and Subnanosecond Switching of the High-Voltage GaAs Diodes Initiated by Microsecond Kilovolt Voltage Ramp
- Resource Type
- Conference
- Authors
- Ivanov, Mikhail; Rozhkov, Alexander; Rodin, Pavel
- Source
- 2023 IEEE 24th International Conference of Young Professionals in Electron Devices and Materials (EDM) Young Professionals in Electron Devices and Materials (EDM), 2023 IEEE 24th International Conference of. :250-253 Jun, 2023
- Subject
- Aerospace
Bioengineering
Communication, Networking and Broadcast Technologies
Components, Circuits, Devices and Systems
Computing and Processing
Engineered Materials, Dielectrics and Plasmas
Engineering Profession
Fields, Waves and Electromagnetics
General Topics for Engineers
Geoscience
Nuclear Engineering
Photonics and Electrooptics
Power, Energy and Industry Applications
Robotics and Control Systems
Signal Processing and Analysis
Transportation
Gallium arsenide
Switches
High-voltage techniques
Conductivity
Numerical simulation
Impact ionization
P-i-n diodes
avalanche switching
subnanosecond electronics
GaAs S-diodes
current filamentation
bipolar Gunn effect
- Language
- ISSN
- 2325-419X
It is well known that GaAs diodes of various design such as S-diodes with deep levels and pulse avalanche diodes exhibit subnanosecond transient from blocking to conducting state. Recently the mechanism of such switching was explained by formation of ionizing Gunn domains. The switching occurs in narrow current filaments with extreme ∼ 1 MA/cm 2 ) current density that is required for formation of ionizing Gunn domains. Hence filamentation is a necessary condition for subnanosecond switching. The filamentation mechanism is usually attributed to the structural imperfections or surface breakdown. In this paper we demonstrate that subnanosecond switching is possible for an ideal diode without any imperfections, or deep levels that are present in S-diodes. It also does not require a steep voltage ramp as in the case of pulse avalanche diodes. This universal switching scenario is based on inherent features of GaAs diodes and includes (i) formation of spatially uniform state with double avalanche injection, (ii) current filamentation due to negative differential conductance of the state with double avalanche injection and (iii) subnansecond switching due to appearance of ionizing Gunn domains in current filaments. We illustrate this scenario by two-dimensional numerical simulations of the simplest $p-i-n$ diode structure with 1.4 kV breakdown voltage. The triggering is initiated by a kilovolt pulse with microsecond front and reverse polarity applied to the diode and in-series $50-\Omega$ load. The diode exhibits 500 ps transient to the conducting state with 100 V residual voltage and forms 30 A amplitude pulse in the load.