Practical approach to determining charge collected in multi-junction structures due to the ion shunt effect

In order to design semiconductor devices so that they are resistant to single event upsets, a designer needs to know how much charge would be collected at various junctions in the semiconductor structure. For over a decade researchers have studied the physics of charge collection in semiconductor structures, focusing primarily on the charge collected between the p and n regions of a pn junction by drift and diffusion effects -- a process called funneling. However, when an energetic ion penetrates more than one pn junction, funneling is not the only charge collection mechanism. Simulations and experiments on multi-junction structures have shown dramatic change in the charge collected when an ion penetrates two pn junctions. This charge transport between two regions of like conductivity that are ''bridged'' together by the ion track is called the ion shunt effect -- an effect investigated and experimentally proven by Hauser, et al. and Knudson, et al. This paper will present the algorithms and results of a computer program used to determine the charge collected on silicon semiconductor transistors due to the ion shunt effect. The program is unique because it is quick and simple to use and because it uses a general algorithm to determine an accurate initial electron-hole pair distribution in the ion track