Abstract :
The weakest spot in conventional silicon rectifiers is at the perimeter of the silicon pellet where the rectifying junction comes out to the surface. This is where transient circuit voltages search out the weakest spot to squeeze through, causing overheating and melting in a localized area. A semiconductor which protects itself against damaging transient voltages, called the controlled avalanche rectifier, is announced by General Electric Co. The new rectifier overcomes this weak-spot limitation, the company says, in two ways: the manufacturing process of the rectifier yields surface dielectric stability at voltages in excess of 2,000 volts in a single junction, and the avalanche (zener) voltage of the internal bulk of the junction is intentionally controlled in manufacture so that it. always occurs at a lower voltage than that at which surface problems might be encountered.
