An MOCVD grown InP based optothyristor has been fabricated and tested for high power pulsed switching applications. To increase the power handling capability, the thyristor structure has a 250 pm thick Fe doped semi-insulating(SI) InP sandwiched between two pn junctions of a conventional thyristor. The turn-on of the thyristor is controlled by optical illumination on the SI-InP which creates a high concentration of electron and hole pairs. More than 1,100 V device hold-off voltage has been observed and over 66 A switched current has been realized with a di/dt rating of 1.38x10`° A/s. The switched current as a function of switch voltage and of optical illumination power has also been studied. Comparison with the switching characteristics of a bulk SI-InP photoconductive switch dearly indicates the advantage of this optothyristor in terms of power handling capability.
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