Impact ionization in nonuniformly heated silicon p⁺–n–n⁺ and n⁺–p–p⁺ structures

Experimental results on the effects of changes in the impact-ionization current in silicon diffusion p⁺–n–n⁺ and n⁺–p–p⁺ structures upon nonuniform heating are presented. It is shown that the revealed effects are associated with the transformation of band energy levels caused by thermoelastic stresses of the structures.