Using Rectifier Diodes as Photoconductive High-Voltage Switches for Pulse Generation: TCAD Modeling and Experimental Study

IF 3.6 2区工程技术 Q2 ENGINEERING, ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC

IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices Pub Date : 2026-09-01 Epub Date: 2026-07-14 DOI:10.1109/TED.2026.3710683

Lionel Michard;Philippe Leveque;Vincent Couderc;Delia Arnaud-Cormos

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

An off-the-shelf rectifier diode (RD) is utilized as a high-voltage nanosecond closing switch by triggering transient photoconductivity. Compared to high-resistivity bulk silicon, structures made of PIN junction stacks allow withstanding significantly higher voltage biases with drastically lower dark current. In this work, a silicon-based RD is analyzed through secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) and simulated using technology computer-aided design software (Charon TCAD). The assembled model was experimentally validated through basic electrical measurements, including current–voltage (

$I$

–

$V$

) and capacitance–voltage (

$C$

–

$V$

) characteristics. High-voltage photoconductive switching was achieved using a picosecond, millijoule Nd:YAG laser source. Voltage pulses with an amplitude up to 7.5 kV on

$50~\Omega $

and a rise time of 0.2 ns were obtained with a 20-ns pulse-forming line (PFL) and compared with TCAD simulations as a function of the incident optical energy. Based on the simulation results, a discussion is provided regarding the influence of avalanche and recombination processes on the switching behavior. In addition, a modification of the doping profile of the RD under study is proposed to increase commutation efficiency in terms of optical energy. This study directly compares TCAD simulations of high-voltage transient photoconductivity in silicon diodes to experimental measurements.

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利用整流二极管作为光导高压开关产生脉冲：TCAD建模与实验研究

一个现成的整流二极管（RD）利用作为一个高电压纳秒关闭开关触发瞬态光电导率。与高电阻体硅相比，由PIN结堆叠制成的结构可以承受更高的电压偏置和更低的暗电流。在这项工作中，硅基RD通过二次离子质谱（SIMS）进行分析，并使用计算机辅助设计软件（Charon TCAD）进行模拟。通过基本的电气测量，包括电流-电压（$I$ - $V$）和电容-电压（$C$ - $V$）特性，对组装模型进行了实验验证。采用皮秒、毫焦耳Nd:YAG激光源实现了高压光导开关。用20 ns脉冲形成线（PFL）在$50~\Omega $上获得了振幅高达7.5 kV、上升时间为0.2 ns的电压脉冲，并与TCAD模拟结果比较了入射光能的函数关系。在仿真结果的基础上，讨论了雪崩和复合过程对开关性能的影响。此外，还提出了对所研究的RD的掺杂谱进行修改，以提高光能方面的换流效率。本研究直接比较了硅二极管高压瞬态光电导率的TCAD模拟与实验测量结果。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices 工程技术-工程：电子与电气

CiteScore

5.80

自引率

16.10%

发文量

937

审稿时长

3.8 months

期刊介绍： IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices publishes original and significant contributions relating to the theory, modeling, design, performance and reliability of electron and ion integrated circuit devices and interconnects, involving insulators, metals, organic materials, micro-plasmas, semiconductors, quantum-effect structures, vacuum devices, and emerging materials with applications in bioelectronics, biomedical electronics, computation, communications, displays, microelectromechanics, imaging, micro-actuators, nanoelectronics, optoelectronics, photovoltaics, power ICs and micro-sensors. Tutorial and review papers on these subjects are also published and occasional special issues appear to present a collection of papers which treat particular areas in more depth and breadth.