Development of a second breakdown model for bipolar transistors

An effort was made to obtain an improved bipolar junction transistor model, suitable for modeling or predicting the behavior of circuits under large-signal, high-stress conditions. A circuit-level second-breakdown model was developed for use with the circuit analysis code SPICE. This model uses a dependent subcircuit to perform diagnostic and controlling functions. A hitherto unencountered scheme for modeling avalanche breakdown is presented as part of the breakdown model, although it can be used independently. The complete model is implemented by means of external, circuit-level augmentations of the library bipolar transistor model contained within SPICE. The ability of the model to emulate second breakdown is demonstrated by a comparison between empirical and simulated results.<>