Abstract
The process of spatially nonuniform switching in high-voltage silicon diodes operating in the delayed avalanche regime has been numerically simulated. The dependence of the transient process on the ratio between the total diode cross-section area and the area of the region where the switching takes place has been studied. The switching time (60–70 ps) and qualitative form of the transient characteristic agree with the available experimental data. It is established that a rapid drop of the diode voltage begins after the ionization front has traveled over most of the base and then continues due to secondary avalanche breakdown of the base filled with free carriers. Thus the time of switching to the conducting state exhibits no direct correlation with the velocity of ionization front propagation.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
I. V. Grekhov and A. F. Kardo-Sysoev, Sov. Tech. Phys. Lett. 5, 395 (1979).
D. Benzel and M. Pocha, Rev. Sci. Instr. 56, 1456 (1985).
Zh. I. Alferov, I. V. Grekhov, V. M. Efanov, A. F. Kardo-Sysoev, V. I. Korol’kov, and M. N. Stepanova, Sov. Tech. Phys. Lett. 13, 454 (1987).
A. F. Kardo-Sysoev, New Power Semiconductor Devices for Generation of Nanoand Subnanosecond Pulses, in Ultra-Wideband Radar Technology, Ed. by J. D. Taylor (CRS Press, Boca Raton, 2001).
I. V. Grekhov, IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 38, 1118 (2010).
R. J. Focia, E. Schamiloghu, C. B. Flederman, F. J. Agee, and J. Gaudet, IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 25, 138 (1997).
Yu. D. Bilenko, M. E. Levinshtein, M. V. Popova, and V. S. Yuferev, Sov. Phys. Semicond. 17, 1156 (1983).
A. F. Kardo-Sysoev and M. V. Popova, Semiconductors 30, 431 (1996).
H. Jalali, R. Joshi, and J. Gaudet, IEEE Trans. Electron Dev. 45, 1761 (1998).
P. Rodin, U. Ebert, W. Hundsdorfer, and I. V. Grekhov, J. Appl. Phys. 92, 1971 (2002).
I. V. Grekhov and P. B. Rodin, Tech. Phys. Lett. 37, 849 (2011).
P. Rodin, A. Rodina, and I. Grekhov, J. Appl. Phys. 98, 094506 (2005).
E. V. Astrova, V. B. Voronkov, V. A. Kozlov, and A. A. Lebedev, Semicond. Sci. Technol. 13, 488 (1998).
A. Minarsky and P. Rodin, Solid-State Electron. 41, 813 (1997).
S. N. Vainshtein, Yu. V. Zhilyaev, and M. E. Levinshtein, Sov. Tech. Phys. Lett. 14, 664 (1988).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Original Russian Text © P.B. Rodin, A.M. Minarsky, I.V. Grekhov, 2012, published in Pis’ma v Zhurnal Tekhnicheskoi Fiziki, 2012, Vol. 38, No. 11, pp. 78–87.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rodin, P.B., Minarsky, A.M. & Grekhov, I.V. Numerical simulation of spatially nonuniform switching in silicon avalanche sharpening diodes. Tech. Phys. Lett. 38, 535–539 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063785012060144
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063785012060144