Correlations between reverse recovery time and lifetime of p-n junction driven by a current ramp

When a p-n junction is switched from the forward to the reverse direction by a current ramp, the reverse recovery time t
rr
is found 1) either to be equal to the base lifetime τ if the ramp rate
R \ll I_{F} / \tau
, 2) to be equal to 0.79τ if
R \approx I_{F} / \tau
, or 3) to be equal to 0.7 τ if
R \gg I_{F} / \tau
. These results afford correlations between τ
rr
and τ and also provide the basis for a useful method for measuring τ.