Control over carrier lifetime in high-voltage p-i-n diodes based on InxGa1-xAs/GaAs heterostructures

The possibility of controlling the effective lifetime of nonequilibrium carriers by varying the lattice mismatch between the interfaced materials of a heterostructure has been studied on the example of InGaAs/GaAs heterostructures. It was found that, at a given composition (thickness) of a lightly doped layer of the InGaAs alloy, the nonequilibrium carrier lifetime depends on its thickness (composition), which enables variation of the nonequilibrium carrier lifetime from several nanoseconds to a microsecond without any significant change in the concentration of mobile carriers. The results obtained were used to fabricate pulse p ⁺-p ⁰-π-n ⁰-n ⁺ diodes with blocking voltages of up to 500 V, which can switch currents of ≥10 A and have recovery times no longer than 10 ns.