The field distribution and the critical field in surface-breakdown-limited planar siliconpnjunctions

A computer programme is presented which calculates the field distribution and the critical field in a gate-controlled diode structure. The procedure consists of an over-relaxation potential/field calculation with boundary conditions (junction breakdown voltage at given gate voltage) resulting from experimental measurements on specially processed gate-controlled diodes. The programme eliminates the idealization of infinite doping in the highly doped side of the junction (as encountered in previous works) and gives the magnitude and angle of the field distributions at the silicon-silicon dioxide interface. The values of the critical field are substantially higher than those estimated by other authors and are consistent with independent experimental findings on avalanche (hot-carricr) injection in silicon diodes.