AVALANCHE SHOCK FRONTS IN p-n JUNCTIONS

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
A new transient mode of avalanche breakdown in p‐n junctions is described. For sufficiently high current, a region of impact ionization of carriers advances as a shock front whose velocity can be several times faster than the carrier‐saturated drift velocity. Since the passing disturbance rapidly fills the depletion region with a dense plasma of holes and electrons, it has been used to interpret the observed high‐efficiency microwave oscillations of the trapped‐plasma ``TRAPATT'' mode. An approximate analysis is given, and compared with numerical calculations.