Investigation of the transition from tunneling to impact ionization multiplication in silicon p-n junctions

Lukaszek, W. A.; Ziel, A. van der; Chenette, E.R.

doi:10.1016/0038-1101(76)90134-9

Cited by 49 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…From Fig. 7 it is evident that the avalanche current only starts to appear and then increases at reverse voltages of about 3.5 V, which correlate well with previous observations using other techniques [3][4][5][6].…”

Section: Extraction Of the Different Current Componentssupporting

confidence: 88%

“…8. The avalanche gain measured using our light emission technique correlates very well with the avalanche gains reported by authors using different methods [3][4][5][6]. The avalanche gain shown in Fig.…”

Section: Extraction Of the Different Current Componentssupporting

confidence: 87%

“…The built-in potential for heavily doped junctions was estimated as V bi = 1.1 V. Using (6) and (7) with the constants F O = 1.9 Â 10 7 V/cm, r = 1.5, and c = 1.6 Â 10 14 s À1 cm À1/2 V À5/2 , the value of a was determined that gave the best fit to the experimental tunnel current of On the same graph a = dN(x)/dx, with N(x) = N D (x) À N A (x), is also shown. The maximum slope a near the metallurgical junction is comparable to the extracted value of a = 6.9 Â 10 25 cm À4 .…”

Section: Theoretical Evaluation Of Tunnel Current Componentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A significant contribution was made in 1976 [6] to distinguish the tunneling current from the impact ionization multiplied current, using noise as diagnostic tool. If the randomly emitted tunneling electrons undergo multiplication due to impact ionization, the randomness of the multiplication process generates additional noise, and the noise ratio becomes greater than unity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The simulation of low-voltage breakdown devices [7] resulted in the principal conclusion that the transition from tunneling to impact ionization occurs when the energy of the tunneling electrons exceeds the electron threshold energy of ionization. A transition voltage of approximately 4 V was observed [6] in the noise characteristics, and attributed to transitions from a 0038-1101/$ -see front matter Ó 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd. doi:10.1016/j.sse.2010.01.003 maximum of two to a maximum of three ionizing collisions per electron transit across the diode space charge layer.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Novel electroluminescence technique to analyze mixed reverse breakdown phenomena in silicon diodes

Plessis

Rademeyer²

2010

Solid-State Electronics

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a b s t r a c tIn this paper a novel technique to analyze the low-voltage breakdown regime of silicon diodes is presented. It is shown that the field emission tunnel current component of the reverse current does not cause energy transitions of carriers, and therefore will not emit photons. All photons being emitted from the pn junction are due to avalanche electroluminescence as a result of hot carrier energy relaxation processes. Measuring the light intensity output as a function of reverse current, the two current components (field emission and impact ionization) can be extracted as a function of reverse voltage. The experimental results were verified using the differential dynamic impedance method, as well as fitting a theoretical model to the extracted tunnel current. The temperature coefficient of current also indicated the transition from tunneling to avalanche.

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Section: Extraction Of the Different Current Componentssupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Extraction Of the Different Current Componentssupporting

confidence: 87%

Section: Theoretical Evaluation Of Tunnel Current Componentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Novel electroluminescence technique to analyze mixed reverse breakdown phenomena in silicon diodes

Plessis

Rademeyer²

2010

Solid-State Electronics

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Approaching the Intrinsic Threshold Breakdown Voltage and Ultrahigh Gain in a Graphite/InSe Schottky Photodetector

et al. 2022

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In conventional APDs, the charge amplification mechanism is based on a one-carrier cascade impact ionization process involving only one type of carriers. [9] To achieve pronounced charge amplification, that is, high avalanche gain, a large breakdown voltage is required to provide enough energy for each injected carrier to produce multiple cascade ionizations in an avalanche region defined by a length of multiple mean-free paths. This leads to a grand challenge that the ultrahigh avalanche gain and the low breakdown voltage cannot be realized simultaneously in the conventional APD materials. Moreover, the breakdown voltages reported to date in the experimental works have never approached the theoretical limit of breakdown voltage of 1.5 E g /e with high gain, [10] hindering the development of APDs with both low energy consumption and high sensitivity. Searching for novel APD materials with alternative mechanisms to realize charge amplification represents a highly promising solution for addressing such challenges.Recently, the emerging family of 2D materials and van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures has prompted a revolution in developing high-performance avalanche photodetectors due to their unique properties. [3,[11][12][13] In particular, the enhanced Coulomb interaction resulting from the quantum confinement in vdW layered materials could boost the ionization rate [12,14] during the process of impact ionization. Here, we propose a new type of APDs based on the vdW Schottky junction, and realize both intrinsic threshold breakdown voltage of 1.5 E g /e and ultrahigh avalanche gain up to ≈3 × 10 5 . Such an excellent performance of the vdW Schottky APD can be well explained by a 2D avalanche model. In addition, we find the temperature dependence of the breakdown voltage and the gain relies not only on the ionization process but also on the thermally assisted carrier collection process. Our work highlights the potential of the vdW Schottky junction for developing next-generation high-performance APDs. Results and DiscussionAs schematically shown in Figure 1a, vdW Schottky APD was fabricated based on graphite/InSe vdW heterostructures, Realizing both ultralow breakdown voltage and ultrahigh gain is one of the major challenges in the development of high-performance avalanche photodetector. Here, it is reported that an ultrahigh avalanche gain of 3 × 10 5 can be realized in the graphite/InSe Schottky photodetector at a breakdown voltage down to 5.5 V. Remarkably, the threshold breakdown voltage can be further reduced down to 1.8 V by raising the operating temperature, approaching the theoretical limit of 1.5 E g g /e, with E g g the bandgap of semiconductor. A 2D impact ionization model is developed and it is uncovered that observation of high gain at low breakdown voltage arises from reduced dimensionality of electron-phonon scattering in the layered InSe flake. These findings open up a promising avenue for developing novel weak-light detectors with low energy consumption and high sensitivity.

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Investigation of Al2O3 layers obtained by DC planar-magnetron sputtering

Kirov

Atanasova

Ivanov

1978

Phys. Stat. Sol. (a)

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A planar‐magnetron system is used for dc reactive sputtering of Al in O2 + Ar atmosphere. It is shown that the electrophysical properties of so produced alumina (Al2O3) layers depend on the gas ratio mainly. By studying the index of refraction, the dielectric constant, the resistivity, the breakdown field, and the C–V characteristics it is found that the most stoichiometric layers are obtained at a partial pressure ratio, Po2/ArP, in the range of 0.45 to 0.65. The MAS structures show good interface properties only after annealing in N2 at 1000°C and in H2 at 450°C.

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Investigation of the transition from tunneling to impact ionization multiplication in silicon p-n junctions

Cited by 49 publications

References 11 publications

Novel electroluminescence technique to analyze mixed reverse breakdown phenomena in silicon diodes

Novel electroluminescence technique to analyze mixed reverse breakdown phenomena in silicon diodes

Approaching the Intrinsic Threshold Breakdown Voltage and Ultrahigh Gain in a Graphite/InSe Schottky Photodetector

Investigation of Al2O3 layers obtained by DC planar-magnetron sputtering

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