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Avalanche breakdown (or the avalanche effect) is a phenomenon that can occur in both insulating and semiconducting materials. It is a form of electric current multiplication that can allow very large currents within materials which are otherwise good insulators. It is a type of electron avalanche.
In an avalanche photodiode the original charge carrier is created by the absorption of a photon. The impact ionization process is used in modern cosmic dust detectors like the Galileo Dust Detector [ 2 ] and dust analyzers Cassini CDA , [ 3 ] Stardust CIDA and the Surface Dust Analyser [ 4 ] for the identification of dust impacts and the ...
The first paper dealing with avalanche transistors was Ebers & Miller (1955).The paper describes how to use alloy-junction transistors in the avalanche breakdown region in order to overcome speed and breakdown voltage limitations which affected the first models of such kind of transistor when used in earlier computer digital circuits.
Charge injection, where hot carriers generated by avalanche breakdown are injected into the oxide layer. Catastrophic ESD failure modes include: Junction burnout, where a conductive path forms through the junction and shorts it; Metallisation burnout, where melting or vaporizing of a part of the metal interconnect interrupts it
For a device that makes use of the secondary breakdown effect see Avalanche transistor. Secondary breakdown is a failure mode in bipolar power transistors. In a power transistor with a large junction area, under certain conditions of current and voltage, the current concentrates in a small spot of the base-emitter junction.
Snapback is a mechanism in a bipolar transistor in which avalanche breakdown or impact ionization provides a sufficient base current to turn on the transistor. It is used intentionally in the design of certain ESD protection devices integrated onto semiconductor chips.
The MOSFET voltage drop can be modeled as a resistance, with the voltage drop proportional to current. ... (ESD), latch-up, avalanche, secondary breakdown, wire-bond ...
At a certain avalanche or breakdown voltage where the air just can’t take any more stress, current suddenly flows; lots and lots of it, and just because voltage was increased to an avalanche point. And just like lightning, a fully-on MOSFET would conduct all the current you throw at it; even up to the point you cook the device. I’m a nerd.