Reduction of the current gain of the n-p-n transistor component of a thyristor due to the doping concentration of the p-base

The reduction of the current amplification factor of a wide-base transistor, with growing doping concentration in the base region, is investigated. A method for the determination of the minority-carrier lifetime τ_n in the base region and the emitter Gummel number G_e is developed. The method is based on transistor structures differing only in the base width. It was found that the lifetime τ_n decreases according to the power law τ_n~N^-0.45_A. This result is analyzed for different recombination processes. Good agreement is obtained if shallow impurities acting as recombination centers are assumed. The injection-limited current gain β_γ decreases significantly with an increase in the total number of the doping concentration of the base, reaches a broad maximum, and then falls slowly. The maximum value of G_e is found to be 1.1×10¹⁴ cm^-4-s in good agreement with theoretical results. Finally, the contribution of the injection efficiency γ and the transport factor α_T to the current gain α are determined. It is found that α is limited mainly by the injection efficiency γ