Extended measurements of gallium arsenide breakdown characteristics using punchthrough structures

Measurements of the avalanche breakdown characteristics of gallium arsenide have been extended to carrier concentrations below 10¹⁵per cm³by using punchthrough structures. Although the earlier measured values [7] at doping levels above 10¹⁵per cm³were in close agreement with the theoretical calculations by Lee and Sze [6], the measurements performed in this study at lower doping indicate an overestimation of the breakdown voltage by about 30 percent by the theoretical analysis.