Influence of contacts on the hold-off voltage and recovery of electron-beam activated gallium arsenide switches

The dark current, the current gain, and the recovery behavior of electron-beam controlled gallium arsenide bulk switches was measured for various contact configurations. With non-injecting contacts, the pulsed hold-off voltage and the threshold voltage for current lock-on was found to be higher by more than a factor of 3, compared to systems with injecting contacts. Additionally, the switch gain could be increased by a factor of 3 by doping the electron-beam irradiated face of the switch with zinc.<
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