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The Influence of Defects Produced by High Energy Electrons on the Electrical Characteristics of p-n Junctions; INFLUENCE DES DEFAUTS CREES PAR DES ELECTRONS DE GRANDE ENERGIE SUR LES CARACTERISTIQUES ELECTRIQUES DES JONCTIONS P-N

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:4821937

The life-time of minority carriers in semiconductors is very sensitive to the presence of defects introduced by high-energy electrons. The formation of defects thus affects the short-circuiting current and the open circuit voltage of a p-n junction, these being dependent on the lifetime. Several types of germanium and silicon junctions were bombarded with 2-Mev electrons from a Van de Graaf and with beta -particles from radioactive sources. The experiments were carried out both at ordinary temperatures and that of liquid air. In this latter case an anomaly in the electron-volt effect was found: the short-circuiting current and the voltage in vacuo, after an initial decrease, increased again and exceeded their initial maximum value before once more decreasing. A qualitative interpretation of this abnormal effect is given. (auth)

Research Organization:
France. Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique. Centre d'Etudes Nucleaires, Saclay
NSA Number:
NSA-16-005754
OSTI ID:
4821937
Report Number(s):
CEA-1892
Country of Publication:
France
Language:
English