Experimental and Numerical Simulation Study of a Semiconductor Opening Switch

This article examines the nanosecond interruption of high current in semiconductor opening switch (SOS) diodes, with the goal of bridging the gap between experimental results and numerical simulations. The experimental results of SOS diodes (0.25 cm<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup>, 0.9 kV) operating as a nanosecond interrupter are presented in a wide range of cut-off current density from 300 A/cm<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> to 5 kA/cm<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> to analyze the two modes of operation, i.e., drift step recovery diode (DSRD) and SOS. In addition, the numerical simulations of the SOS diode are conducted to investigate the dynamics of the SOS diode in the DSRD and the SOS modes using the Synopsys TCAD. A mixed-mode device with a circuit simulator is utilized to simulate the SOS effect and the dynamic processes occurring during the current cut-off stage. Finally, the experimental and numerical simulation results of the SOS current and load voltage are compared indicating: 1) the accuracy of the TCAD model in the commercially available software, and 2) the possibility of operating the SOS diode in a DSRD mode.