Impact ionization in nonuniformly heated silicon p+–n–n+ and n+–p–p+ structures

Abstract

Experimental results on the effects of changes in the impact-ionization current in silicon diffusion p⁺–n–n⁺ and n⁺–p–p⁺ structures upon nonuniform heating are presented. It is shown that the revealed effects are associated with the transformation of band energy levels caused by thermoelastic stresses of the structures.