SURFACE-RELATED BREAKDOWN IN SILICON - IMAGING OF CURRENT FILAMENTS IN LONG P(-N(-)-N(+) STRUCTURES())

Authors
HANKLA BJ WILLIAMS PF FRECKS GA PETERKIN FE
Citation
Bj. Hankla et al., SURFACE-RELATED BREAKDOWN IN SILICON - IMAGING OF CURRENT FILAMENTS IN LONG P(-N(-)-N(+) STRUCTURES()), Applied physics letters, 67(26), 1995, pp. 3942-3944
Citations number
21
Categorie Soggetti
Physics, Applied
Journal title
Applied physics letters → ACNP
ISSN journal
00036951
Volume
67
Issue
26
Year of publication
1995
Pages
3942 - 3944
Database
ISI
SICI code
0003-6951(1995)67:26<3942:SBIS-I>2.0.ZU;2-#
Abstract
We present Schlieren images which show the existence and evolution of current filaments during the very early stages of surface-related brea kdown inside 1 cm silicon p(+)-n(-)-n(+) structures. These images conf irm our previous finding that breakdown occurs in the silicon rather t han in the ambient, and suggest that a streamerlike mechanism may be r esponsible. (C) 1995 American Institute of Physics.