Visible Light Emission and Microplasma Phenomena in Silicon p-n Junction

II. Classification of weak spots in diffused p-n junctions

Abstract

In the course of study on the visible light emission and microplasma phenomena in diffused silicon p-n junctions, it has been discovered that there exist several types of weak spots in the junction. They can be roughly classified into two groups, one of them includes tiny weak spots which reveal microplasma current pulses at certain characteristic bias voltages, and the other includes tiny spots which contribute “soft” component to the reverse current without being accompanied with microplasma pulses. The latter type of spots could be produced by scratching the surface of the junction with a tungsten needle, whereas the former could not be produced by the same operation.
In real diffused junctions there are distributed above mentioned types of point defects. Typical experimental results are given, and the correlation between those weak spots and the current-voltage characteristics is discussed.