Nonlinear Inertial Diode Model Considering the Dependence of Nonequilibrium Charge Carrier Lifetime on Direct Current to Improve Simulation of Radioelectronic Equipment

Introduction. Adequate modeling of semiconductor devices with a p–n-junction in reverse bias represents a relevant research problem. The existing quasistatic and non-quasistatic models fail to provide a satisfactory description for the dependence of nonequilibrium charge carrier lifetime on current density. This leads to significant simulation errors (tens of percent) at pulsed broadband signals. Simulation errors arise, because the existing models regard the lifetime as a constant value.Aim. To propose and investigate an equivalent circuit of a p–n-junction considering the dependence of the lifetime of nonequilibrium charge carriers on direct current, with the possibility of its simple integration into CAD.Materials and methods. The study was carried out on the example of a fast recovery silicon diode BAS16J with a p–n-junction manufactured by Nexperia. A modified diode model is proposed in the form of an equivalent circuit that considers the dependence of the lifetime of nonequilibrium charge carriers on the direct current of the p–njunction at high injection levels.Results. The discrepancy between the experimental and simulated curves did not exceed ±9 % under pulsed diode operation. The extraction of parameters in the proposed model is carried out conventionally, from the current-voltage and capacitance-voltage characteristics of the diode.Conclusion. The proposed non-quasistatic equivalent diode circuit can be used when designing radio electronic devices operated at short-pulse broadband signals. The proposed diode model can be easily implemented in modern CAD systems at the user level.