BULK TUNNELING CONTRIBUTION TO THE REVERSE BREAKDOWN CHARACTERISTICS OF INSB GATE CONTROLLED DIODES

This work presents measurements and analysis of optimized reverse breakdown characteristics of InSb p** plus n gate controlled mesa diodes. Surface current contributions were minimized by adjusting the potential of the peripheral gate electrode. The resulting measured breakdown currents are found to be proportional to the junction area and exhibit diode bias and temperature dependence that fit quantitatively to direct band-to-band tunneling theory of one sided abrupt junction devices. The agreement between theory and experiment, achieved without any fitting parameter, confirms that bulk band-to-band direct tunneling mechanism is the fundamental limit for the diodes reverse bias performance.