TRANSIENT VOLTAGE BREAKDOWN DUE TO AVALANCHE IN MIS CAPACITORS

Rapid generation of minority carriers under transient bias conditions is shown to occur by means of avalanche breakdown in an MIS capacitor. Capacitance vs pulse bias follows a 1/C2 law and saturates at a low value at the avalanche voltage. Breakdown fields and voltages in general agreement with those found in step p-n junctions for Si and GaAs are measured.