Title :
Avalanche breakdown characteristics of AlGaAs/GaAs p-n heterojunctions for pulsed power applications
Author :
Hur, J.H. ; Myles, C. ; Gundersen, M.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Elect. Eng.-Electrophys., Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Abstract :
Results of a theoretical analysis of avalanche breakdown in AlxGa1-xAs/GaAs heterojunctions are presented. All x values of AlxGa1-xAs in the heterojunctions were considered. The avalanche breakdown voltage was found to be maximum when the x of Alx Ga1-x As in heterojunctions was ~0.45. The maximum heterojunction breakdown voltage was ~400 V larger than that of a homojunction when donor and acceptor concentrations were 1014 cm-3. The results indicate that the use of a thyristor for pulsed power applications can improve the blocking capability of the device
Keywords :
III-V semiconductors; aluminium compounds; gallium arsenide; impact ionisation; p-n heterojunctions; pulsed power technology; AlxGa1-xAs-GaAs heterojunctions; acceptor concentrations; avalanche breakdown voltage; blocking capability; donor concentrations; pulsed power applications; semiconductor; thyristor; Avalanche breakdown; Breakdown voltage; Electric breakdown; Gallium arsenide; Heterojunctions; Impact ionization; Physics; Power engineering and energy; Semiconductor process modeling; Thyristors;
Conference_Titel :
Power Modulator Symposium, 1990., IEEE Conference Record of the 1990 Nineteenth
Conference_Location :
San Diego, CA
DOI :
10.1109/MODSYM.1990.201002
