Simulation of transient space-charge flow in a semiconductor under ionizing irradiation

This paper describes some promising initial results in the development of a numerical procedure for the direct simulation of transient space-charge flow in a semiconductor. A computer code is described that employs a simulation technique to predict the internal dynamics and terminal response of a reverse-biased p- n junction subjected to high-level transient ionizing irradiation in a circuit environment. By comparing the predictions of the simulation code and a mathematically based code in regard to a specific problem, it is shown that the simulation technique can yield accurate solutions for analytically intractable problems in a realistic amount of computing time. The adaptability of the simulation technique to certain studies not feasible with the mathematically based codes is pointed out.