Lock-on effect in pulsed-power semiconductor switches

Abstract
Certain high-voltage pulsed-power switches based on semi-insulating GaAs or InP exhibit a ‘‘lock-on’’ effect. In this paper, this effect is argued to be fundamentally a transferred-electron effect, and its experimentally observed characteristics are explained. The lock-on effect causes high forward drop and high power dissipation for certain pulsed-power switches based on GaAs and various other direct-gap materials.