Date of Award

Summer 1996

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Electrical & Computer Engineering

Program/Concentration

Electrical Engineering

Committee Director

R. P. Joshi

Committee Member

L. L. Vahala

Committee Member

G. A. Gerdin

Call Number for Print

Special Collections LD4331.E55 J35

Abstract

Silicon Avalanche Shaper devices have been projected as being important components of an inexpensive, semiconductor-based technology for high power switching applications. The primary advantage of this technology is that it is based on Silicon material which is easy to fabricate and has a well established processing technology. Unlike other high power technologies, the SAS devices do not rely on external optical triggering which eliminates the need for lasers and related optical circuitry.

The SAS based high power switching technology has been pioneered and tested by a Russian group. Though preliminary results have been very encouraging, the device reliability and its operating capability at high voltages have not been studied in detail. Also, the potential for internal current filamentation and device breakdown has not been analyzed. This aspect can best be studied and understood through numerical simulations.

In this thesis, a two-dimensional simulator for the SAS has been developed based on the drift-diffusion model. The role of transverse variations in the doping profile have been analyzed by obtaining transient current characteristics. The results reveal the development and propagation of internal electric field waves. Simulation data for the conduction current distribution within the device at various time instants, clearly show the growth of filamentary modes. The filamentation is strongly dependent on the transverse doping characteristics.

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DOI

10.25777/e6zd-0t49

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