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Ultrafast current switching using the tunneling-assisted impact ionization front in a silicon semiconductor closing switch

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Abstract

Ultrafast current switching in semiconductors, based on the mechanism of tunneling-assisted impact ionization front, has been experimentally implemented and theoretically studied. A voltage pulse with an amplitude of 220 kV and a front duration of 1 ns was applied to a semiconductor device containing 20 serially connected silicon diode structures. After switching, 150-to 160-kV pulses with a power of 500 MW, a pulse duration of 1.4 ns, and a front duration of 200–250 ps were obtained in a 50-Ω transmission line. The maximum current and voltage buildup rates amounted to 10 kA/ns and 500 kV/ns, respectively, at a switched current density of 13 kA/cm2. The results of numerical simulation are presented, which show that the current switching is initiated at a threshold field strength of about 1 MV/cm in the vicinity of the p-n junction, where the tunneling-assisted impact ionization begins.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Electrophysics, Ural Division, Russian Academy of Sciences, Yekaterinburg, Russia

    S. K. Lyubutin, S. N. Rukin, B. G. Slovikovsky & S. N. Tsyranov

Authors
  1. S. K. Lyubutin
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  2. S. N. Rukin
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  3. B. G. Slovikovsky
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  4. S. N. Tsyranov
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Translated from Pis’ma v Zhurnal Tekhnichesko\(\overset{\lower0.5em\hbox{$\smash{\scriptscriptstyle\smile}$}}{l}\) Fiziki, Vol. 31, No. 5, 2005, pp. 36–46.

Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Lyubutin, Rukin, Slovikovsky, Tsyranov.

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Lyubutin, S.K., Rukin, S.N., Slovikovsky, B.G. et al. Ultrafast current switching using the tunneling-assisted impact ionization front in a silicon semiconductor closing switch. Tech. Phys. Lett. 31, 196–199 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1134/1.1894430

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/1.1894430

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