The Impact of Depletion Region Potential Modulation on Ion-Induced Current Transient Response

Transient capture measurements on an irradiated diode show the effect of increasing ion LET and varying strike location on transient current response. Significant modulation of the electrostatic potential in the device depletion region during and after the strike profoundly affects transient characteristics. The peak transient current tends to saturate with increasing ionization intensity. The saturation depends on device parameters and the applied bias. A previously developed analytical model is used to describe the mechanisms responsible for this trend. Ion strikes near the device contacts produce transients that are significantly different than strikes away from the contacts, but still in the active region of the device. This is attributed to well potential modulation effects. Device-level simulations, broadbeam heavy-ion measurements, and two-photon absorption single-event effects testing are used to investigate these phenomena. The implications of these results for highly-scaled technologies are also discussed.