How to select a diode for a Baker clamp?
Yes, high reverse leakage might lead to the switch always being partially on, even when you try to turn it off. High reverse leakage is kind of like putting a (nonlinear) resistor in its place. Then you can see it's like a collector-base feedback biasing scheme that will could slightly bias the transistor into active mode.

If you are switching at very high speeds, even small Schottky diodes might not work as well as a fast switching diode since you are essentially putting another (small) capacitor parallel to Cbc. Then a 1n4148 might actually work better in some cases, even if Vbc gets more forward biased. You might need to add a speed up capacitor as well in that case.


This question assumes done knowledge of Baker clamps, so for readers that aren't familiar: when a BJT is in saturation (switching), Vbc can become forward biased. When that happens, charge builds up in the base that takes a long time to dissipate (100s of ns). So if you want to switch fast, you can limit that charge build up by making sure Vbc never goes into forward bias (put a diode between the b and c known as a Baker clamp). To work best, Vf of that diode should be as small as possible. Additionally, you can limit the amount of charge stored by keeping Ib as small as possible or by adding a capacitor in parallel to Rb to &quot;pull out&quot; the excess charge when the switch goes off. That is known as a speed up capacitor.