Study of the effects of fast neutrons on silicon controlled rectifiers

The controlled rectifier, while it has come into use only recently, has properties which make its use in a nuclear environment probable. Because of this, an investigation was conducted to determine the effects of fast neutrons on silicon controlled rectifiers. Ten General Electric 4JC35 silicon controlled rectifiers were subjected to a maximum integrated fast neutron flux of nvt/cm²in the M. I. T. Nuclear Reactor. An increase in the emitter current required to obtain a given value of alpha was observed after irradiation. This increase is attributed to an increase in the bulk recombination in the base region. The variation of alpha with emitter current in the controlled rectifier is attributed to recombination in the space charge layer.