A high current density thyristor-like gallium phosphide based optoelectronic switch

A thyristor- like optoelectronic switch with high current density is investigated. The switch is based on the optoelectronic bistability exhibited by certain GaP light emitting diode-type structures at 77K. The bistability is based on the negative differential resistance that occurs during the forward biased current-voltage (I-V) characteristic. A model has been developed to explain the observed s-shape I-V characteristic and describe the dependence of the I-V characteristic on the geometry of the device, doping species and concentrations. The switching time depends on the intensity of optical gating signal, bias voltage and doping concentrations. The device has high current density capability (/spl tilde/10/sup 4/ A/cm/sup 2/), can be triggered optically, and its geometry and doping concentrations can be readily controlled and varied. The model has a general applicability to Ill-V based pulsed power switches.