The importance of the judicious choice of lifetime model in device analysis is discussed and a one‐dimensional, steady‐state numerical analysis of a pvn diode is presented. Two types of lifetime models are used in this analysis. In model I constant values of lifetimes are assigned for the different regions of the device. Results with varying lifetime values in the middle v region are presented and compared. In model II the lifetime varies with injection level and doping level. Results of an analysis with two such models are reported. Suggestions are made regarding a realistic life‐time model. Copyright © 1981 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA

S. Ramanan

Devdas Kakati

Semiconductor diodes

IIT Madras is a public technical and research university located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Founded in 1959, it is recognised as an Institute of National Importance.

IIT Madras has been ranked as the top engineering institute in India for four years in a row by the National Institutional Ranking Framework of the MHRD

It currently offers undergraduate, postgraduate and research degrees across 16 disciplines in Engineering, Sciences, Humanities and Management. About 596 faculty belonging to science and engineering departments and centres of the Institute are engaged in teaching, research and industrial consultancy.

IIT Madras

physica status solidi (a)

The behaviour of both majority and minority carriers in a p+-s-n+ epitaxial diode (where s may be p or n) has been investigated in this paper. Forward current-voltage characteristics of the diodes are obtained by exact numerical analysis, taking into account the effects of energy-gap narrowing, Auger recombination and carrier-carrier scattering. As with previous authors, it is found that the forward current increases with increasing middle layer thickness. The present analysis shows that such increase occurs only upto a specific applied bias, after which the forward current decreases with increasing middle layer thickness. This behaviour is attributed to double reflection, i.e. the reflection of both majority and minority carriers by the p-n junction and high-low junction respectively. Beyond the specific bias so determined, junction reflection loses its effectiveness. Distribution of carrier concentration and junction voltages for several device configurations are given to illustrate these features. The majority carrier reflection by the p-n junction is found to have a dominating effect in all cases. © 1982.

Journal	physica status solidi (a)
ISSN	00318965
Open Access	No