The ratio of active and reactive losses in drift step recovery diodes depending on their operating mode

An experimental investigation and numerical modeling have been conducted to study the dependence between energy losses and the density of reverse current during the switching of a silicon $p^+$–$p$–$n$–$n^+$-structure (Drift Step Recovery Diode) from the conducting state to the blocking state. The active and reactive components of energy losses were separately calculated, and their ratio was analyzed depending on the switching parameters. It was shown that at low densities of reverse current, the structure can return up to 90% of the energy spent on recovering the voltage across the diode. As the density of reverse current increases, the proportion of active energy loss component increases.