Reverse Current and Carrier Lifetime as a Function of Temperature in Silicon Junction Diodes

Abstract

Earlier measurements of the reverse current and carrier lifetime in germanium have been extended to a series of silicon grown junction diodes, with measurements as a function of temperature between −190°C and 200°C. The lifetime reaches a plateau at low temperatures and can be explained in terms of the Hall‐Shockley‐Read recombination theory. The slope of logi_r vs 1/T, the magnitude of i_r, and the slope of i_r vs V suggests that charge generation from centers about 0.5 ev deep is responsible for most of the reverse current in these samples up to temperatures well above room temperature.