Photoacoustic and OBIC measurements on planar high-voltage p/sup +/-n junctions

The photoacoustic technique is introduced as a tool for spatially resolved investigations on Si power devices. Photoacoustic and optical-beam-induced current (OBIC) measurements are combined to yield local information about the electric field distribution in a thin surface layer of a reverse-biased planar p/sup +/-n diode. The experimental results are described within the framework of a simple linear one-dimensional theory for the optical-beam-induced current and the photoacoustic signal.>