Effects of heavy ion impact on power diodes

Abstract

An experimental study of the bombardment with high energy /sup 28/Si of power diodes is presented, including charge spectra and current waveforms. It is shown that, for biasing voltages beyond a threshold value, a second conspicuous charge population appears. The corresponding waveforms are classified. The threshold value depends on the ion energy. The peak value of the current depends on the applied voltage and may reach values large enough to trigger instabilities inside the diode.