This paper shows a comprehensive experimental and numerical investigation of proton-irradiated diodes for high-power snubberless applications. By means of DC and transient current-voltage measurements, OCVD extraction of lifetimes, C-V profiling, and DLTS trap characterization, a wide set of parameters was experimentally extracted and fed into a physically accurate mixed-mode simulation model. The numerical results are shown to be consistent with the available measured data, for example in showing the much better turn-off softness of proton-irradiated samples versus electron-irradiated ones. The complete physical/electrical model set-up in this work can now be used as an aid in the design and development of new proton-irradiated diodes. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.