Motion of current filaments in avalanching PIN diodes

The motion of current filaments in avalanching PIN diodes has been investigated in this paper by 2D transient numerical simulations. The simulation results show that the filament can move along the length of the PIN diode back and forth when the self-heating effect is considered. The voltage wavefor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of semiconductors 2013-04, Vol.34 (4), p.37-41
Main Author: 任兴荣 柴常春 马振洋 杨银堂 乔丽萍 史春蕾 任利华
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Computer simulation
Failure
Filaments
Homogenizing
Ionization
PIN diodes
PIN二极管
Semiconductors
Temperature gradient
周期性变化
温度梯度
电流
瞬态数值模拟
自加热效应
运动
雪崩
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Summary:The motion of current filaments in avalanching PIN diodes has been investigated in this paper by 2D transient numerical simulations. The simulation results show that the filament can move along the length of the PIN diode back and forth when the self-heating effect is considered. The voltage waveform varies periodically due to the motion of the filament. The filament motion is driven by the temperature gradient in the filament due to the negative temperature dependence of the impact ionization rates. Contrary to the traditional understanding that current filamentation is a potential cause of thermal destruction, it is shown in this paper that the thermally-driven motion of current filaments leads to the homogenization of temperature in the diode and is expected to have a positive influence on the failure threshold of the PIN diode.
ISSN:1674-4926
DOI:10.1088/1674-4926/34/4/044004