Authors:

Dania M Zein

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About Paper:

Ionizing radiation creates a charge imbalance in a semiconductor that alters the current flow, resulting in changes to the electron emission behavior that may alter diode operating effectiveness. We apply a theoretical technique referred to as "nexus theory" to assess the transition between the maximum steady-state current in a diode, defined as the space-charge limited current (SCLC), and the canonical source current given by the Fowler Nordheim (FN) equation for field emission. In a semiconductor, the SCLC is given by the Mott-Gurney (MG) law for a trap-free device and the Mark-Helfrich (MH) law for a device with traps. In this project, we derive nexuses between these mechanisms under different device and operating conditions to demonstrate the conditions required for the transition between these mechanisms. We apply the resulting theoretical current- voltage (I/V) to measurements for Schottky diodes to assess this behavior before and after exposure to ionizing radiation to demonstrate the transitions between these mechanisms and the conditions for device breakdown. Comparing the results from theory and experiment will provide information for future studies concerning device reliability and operation. Keywords: Electron Emission; Semiconductors

Source:

Purdue University / 2024

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Co-authors:

Dania M Zein