Surface flashover of silicon

Author

Peterkin, Frank E. ; Ridolfi, Tim ; Buresh, Lonnie L. ; Hankla, Brian J. ; Scott, D.K. ; Williams, P. Frazer ; Nunnally, William C. ; Thomas, B.L.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng., Nebraska Univ., Lincoln, NE, USA

Volume

37

Issue

12

fYear

1990

fDate

12/1/1990 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

2459

Lastpage

2465

Abstract

Empirical information about surface flashover of silicon in a vacuum ambient which shows that in breakdown the current is carried primarily inside the semiconductor is presented. This observation shows that the physical processes responsible for flashover of silicon are fundamentally different from those assumed in the standard model for flashover of insulators. When breakdown occurs, visible emission from a plasma in the ambient just outside the silicon surface is observed. This plasma may influence the course of the breakdown, but it does not appear to be the cause of the breakdown event

Keywords

electric breakdown of solids; elemental semiconductors; flashover; silicon; surface discharges; Si; breakdown event; physical processes; semiconductor; surface flashover; vacuum ambient; visible emission; Chemicals; Conductivity; Electric breakdown; Flashover; Indium; Insulation; Plasmas; Semiconductor device breakdown; Silicon; Vacuum breakdown;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Devices, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9383

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/16.64518

Filename

64518