Subnanosecond switching of GaAs diode due to impact ionization in collapsing bipolar Gunn domains

Subnanosecond switching of high-voltage GaAs diodes initiated by a steep reverse voltage ramp (>= 1 kV/ns) is investigated experimentally and numerically. The triggering occurs at the voltage U-m which exceeds stationary breakdown voltage U-b, similar to delayed impact ionization breakdown in Si picosecond-range high-voltage diodes known as silicon avalanche sharpening (SAS) diodes. Despite this similarity, we argue that the triggering mechanism of GaAs diodes is qualitatively different and is based on negative differential electron mobility in GaAs. Spatial patterns of recombination emission indicate formation of narrow conducting channels. Numerical simulations reveal the spontaneous appearance of high-field (similar to 400 kV/cm) bipolar Gunn domains in these channels. The agreement of experiments and simulations demonstrates that impact ionization within collapsing Gunn domains is responsible for a rapid increase of nonequilibrium carrier concentration and subnanosecond switching of the reversely biased GaAs diode to the conducting state with low (<100 V) residual voltage. In particular, the proposed mechanism explains why GaAs diodes exhibit subnanosecond switching at moderate overvoltage ratio U-m/U-b approximate to 1.5 smaller than typical overvoltage U-m/U-b approximate to 2 required for switching Si diodes, and the origin of anomalous delay of several nanoseconds that is experimentally observed in such regimes.