The High Current Limit for Semiconductor Junction Devices

Abstract

At very high operating levels the density of carriers injected into the body of a semiconductor junction device is comparable with the carrier density in the emitter regions of the device. The effect of these high densities on the lifetime and mobility of carriers is considered, and new equations are derived relating the carrier densities on either side of a forward biased junction. These equations are applied to derive the forward characteristics of two diode types, and to consider the dependence of emitter efficiency on current density for alloy junction transistors. For a PIN diode, over a considerable current range, the forward current varies approximately as exp (qV/kT), where ½