Physics of semiconductor power devices

After discussing elementary semiconductor structures, the principles underlying the operation of bipolar and field-effect power transistors and thyristors are reviewed. This is followed by a discussion of phenomena of especial relevance to power devices: junction avalanche breakdown, the effect of t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inReports on progress in physics Vol. 45; no. 4; pp. 427 - 468
Main Author Blicher, A
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published IOP Publishing 01.04.1982
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Summary:After discussing elementary semiconductor structures, the principles underlying the operation of bipolar and field-effect power transistors and thyristors are reviewed. This is followed by a discussion of phenomena of especial relevance to power devices: junction avalanche breakdown, the effect of the current level on the current gain, dynamic and static behavior at high currents, and thermal properties and instabilities. Also discussed are recent advances in device physics and new methods of improving device performance. It is noted that power is a relative concept and that at microwave frequencies a few watts is a very large quantity. For this reason, the review includes a section on microwave power devices.
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ISSN:0034-4885
1361-6633
DOI:10.1088/0034-4885/45/4/002