Optically triggered Schottky barrier diodes in single crystal diamond

The superior material properties of diamond as a semiconducting material can be exploited in many power devices. In this study we show an optically triggered Schottky Barrier Diode (SBD) structure which operates by going into avalanche breakdown with the aid of incident photons from a light source. The source shines through a window patterned into the Schottky cathode contact. The avalanche multiplication is aided by the large electric field set up by the reverse bias applied across a near intrinsic diamond layer. We will demonstrate numerically that the triggering voltage can be controlled by the intensity of irradiated light onto the device, thus increasing the applicability of this device in high voltage switching modules where isolated switches are used.