Electrical properties of bulk-barrier diodes

Abstract

Like Schottky-barrier diodes, bulk-barrier diodes (BBD's) are majority-carrier devices and can, therefore, be used up to very high frequencies. In both types of diodes, charge-carrier transportation is determined by an energy barrier. In Schottky-barrier diodes the barrier is located at the metal/semiconductor boundary, whereas in BBD's it is found inside the semiconductor and is the result of a space-charge zone in a three-layered n-p-n or p-n-p structure with a very thin base region. The height of the barrier is determined by technological parameters such as doping density and layer thickness. As the current in BBD's, just as in Schottky-barrier diodes, is an exponential function of barrier height, the current-voltage characteristic can be adjusted by technological means.