A novel type of power picosecond semiconductor switches based on tunneling-assisted impact ionization fronts

Author

Rodin, P. ; Ebert, U. ; Hundsdorfer, W. ; Grekhov, I.

Author_Institution

Inst. fur Theor. Phys., Technische Univ. Berlin, Germany

fYear

2002

fDate

30 June-3 July 2002

Firstpage

445

Lastpage

448

Abstract

We propose a novel type of closing semiconductor switches based on a new physical mechanism-the propagation of a superfast tunneling-assisted impact ionization front. We present numerical simulations of the switching transients in the proposed devices. Our numerical results suggest that with the new mechanism, voltage pulses with a ramp up to 500 kV/ns and amplitude up to 8 kV can be formed. This sets new frontiers in pulse power electronics.

Keywords

impact ionisation; ionisation; power semiconductor diodes; power semiconductor switches; pulsed power switches; pulsed power technology; switching transients; tunnelling; 8 kV; Si p⁺-n-n⁺-diode; amplitude; closing semiconductor switches; numerical simulations; physical mechanism; pulse power electronics; ramp; superfast tunneling-assisted impact ionization front; switching transients; voltage pulses; Electric breakdown; Impact ionization; Physics; Poisson equations; Power electronics; Power semiconductor switches; Semiconductor diodes; Synthetic aperture sonar; Tunneling; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Power Modulator Symposium, 2002 and 2002 High-Voltage Workshop. Conference Record of the Twenty-Fifth International

ISSN

1076-8467

Print_ISBN

0-7803-7540-8

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/MODSYM.2002.1189510

Filename

1189510