Publications

Modeling of transient ionizing radiation effects in bipolar devices at high dose-rates

Hjalmarson, Harold P.; Muyshondt, Arnoldo M.; Hjalmarson, Harold P.

To optimally design circuits for operation at high intensities of ionizing radiation, and to accurately predict their a behavior under radiation, precise device models are needed that include both stationary and dynamic effects of such radiation. Depending on the type and intensity of the ionizing radiation, different degradation mechanisms, such as photoelectric effect, total dose effect, or single even upset might be dominant. In this paper, the authors consider the photoelectric effect associated with the generation of electron-hole pairs in the semiconductor. The effects of low radiation intensity on p-II diodes and bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) were described by low-injection theory in the classical paper by Wirth and Rogers. However, in BJTs compatible with modem integrated circuit technology, high-resistivity regions are often used to enhance device performance, either as a substrate or as an epitaxial layer such as the low-doped n-type collector region of the device. Using low-injection theory, the transient response of epitaxial BJTs was discussed by Florian et al., who mainly concentrated on the effects of the Hi-Lo (high doping - low doping) epilayer/substrate junction of the collector, and on geometrical effects of realistic devices. For devices with highly resistive regions, the assumption of low-level injection is often inappropriate, even at moderate radiation intensities, and a more complete theory for high-injection levels was needed. In the dynamic photocurrent model by Enlow and Alexander. p-n junctions exposed to high-intensity radiation were considered. In their work, the variation of the minority carrier lifetime with excess carrier density, and the effects of the ohmic electric field in the quasi-neutral (q-n) regions were included in a simplified manner. Later, Wunsch and Axness presented a more comprehensive model for the transient radiation response of p-n and p-i-n diode geometries. A stationary model for high-level injection in p-n junctions was developed by Isaque et al. They used a more complete ambipolar transport equation, which included the dependencies of the transport parameters (ambipolar diffusion constant, mobility, and recombination rate) on the excess minority carrier concentration. The expression used for the recombination rate was that of Shockley-Reed-Hall (SRH) recombination which is dominant for low to mid-level radiation intensities. However, at higher intensities, Auger recombination becomes important eventually dominant. The complete ambipolar transport equation including the complicated dependence of transport parameters on the radiation intensity, cannot be solved analytically. This solution is obtained for each of the regimes where a given recombination mechanism dominates, and then by joining these solutions using appropriate smoothing functions. This approach allows them to develop a BJT model accounting for the photoelectric effect of the ionizing radiation that can be implemented in SPICE.