Investigation of Breakdown and Resistivity Striations in High‐Voltage Silicon Diodes

Abstract

The breakdown behavior of high‐voltage diodes prepared from silicon wafers that were cut parallel to the rod axis was observed by means of the infrared breakdown radiation. The breakdown patterns were striated and could be correlated to spreading resistance measurements on a microscopic scale. It could be confirmed experimentally that the breakdown in material with resistivity variations not only depends on the absolute resistivity value at each location, but also to a large extent on the wave form and the period of the variations. Only in diodes in which the microscopic resistivity variations had high amplitudes and a distinct periodicity with wavelengths longer than the extent of the space charge region did individual minima lead to individual clearly separated breakdown lines.

Physics of fully depleted CCDs

“…Also, the resistivity varies in the vertical dimension as a consequence of the shape of the growth surface. The resistivity striations are typically characterized by spreading-resistance measurements [29][30][31][32]. Fig.…”

“…Also, the resistivity varies in the vertical dimension as a consequence of the shape of the growth surface. The resistivity striations are typically characterized by spreading-resistance measurements [29][30][31][32]. Figure 4 b) shows measurements taken on a 300 Ω-cm, n-type, float-zone refined sample that is believed to be qualitatively similar to the silicon used in this work [33].…”