Abnormal thyristor forward voltage behaviour: numerical simulation and analytic theory

Author

Gerstenmaier, Y.C. ; Pfirsch, F.

Author_Institution

Siemens AG, Munich, Germany

fYear

1990

fDate

7-12 Oct. 1990

Firstpage

1575

Abstract

The on-state current voltage characteristic of thyristors is investigated by numerical one-dimensional simulation. For sufficiently high p-base concentration, an abrupt increase in on-state voltage is observed above a critical current density. By driving the device to higher currents, a reduction of on-state voltage occurs. Similar results are obtained for thyristor profiles with very shallow emitters. An analytic model is presented that explains the phenomena from first principles and leads to a simple criterion for current limiting in terms of Gummel-numbers and carrier mobilities.<>

Keywords

carrier mobility; semiconductor device models; simulation; thyristors; Gummel-numbers; analytic theory; carrier mobilities; critical current density; current limiting; numerical simulation; on-state current voltage characteristic; one-dimensional simulation; p-base concentration; thyristor forward voltage behaviour; Charge carrier density; Charge carrier processes; Current limiters; Doping; Electron mobility; Laboratories; Numerical simulation; Temperature; Thyristors; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Industry Applications Society Annual Meeting, 1990., Conference Record of the 1990 IEEE

Conference_Location

Seattle, WA, USA

Print_ISBN

0-87942-553-9

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IAS.1990.152396

Filename

152396