The electron impact ionization rate and breakdown voltage in GaAs/Ga/sub 0.7/Al/sub 0.3/As MQW structures

Author

David, J.P.R. ; Marsland, J.S. ; Roberts, J.S.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electron. & Electr. Eng., Sheffield Univ., UK

Volume

10

Issue

7

fYear

1989

fDate

7/1/1989 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

294

Lastpage

296

Abstract

The electron impact ionization rate ( alpha ) and breakdown voltage (V/sub BD/) experimentally measured in a p/sup +/-i-n/sup +/ diode structure with a GaAs/Ga/sub 0.7/Al/sub 0.3/As multiple quantum-well (MQW) i region are discussed. For structures with GaAs wells of 100 AA and barriers that vary from 7 to 60 AA in thickness, it is found that alpha is always less than alpha in bulk GaAs and that it decreases with increasing barrier thickness. The normalized V/sub BD/ also increases with increasing barrier thickness, confirming a decreasing ionization rate.<>

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; aluminium compounds; gallium arsenide; impact ionisation; p-i-n diodes; semiconductor quantum wells; GaAs-Ga/sub 0.7/Al/sub 0.3/As; III-V semiconductor; MQW structures; PIN diodes; barrier thickness; breakdown voltage; electron impact ionization rate; multiple quantum-well; p/sup +/-i-n/sup +/ diode structure; Acoustical engineering; Charge carrier processes; Dark current; Electrons; Gallium arsenide; III-V semiconductor materials; Impact ionization; Quantum well devices; Semiconductor device noise; Semiconductor diodes;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Device Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0741-3106

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/55.29657

Filename

29657