Microplasma Noise as a Tool for PN Junctions Diagnostics

Abstract: The present paper deals with noise diagnostics of PN junctions in semiconductor devices. The general tool to be employed here is the microplasma noise, which arises in reverse biased PN junctions containing local defects featuring lower breakdown voltage than the rest PN junction. When a high electric field is applied to this PN junction, local breakdowns arises in micro-sized regions, which in turn can lead to the deterioration in quality or destruction of the PN junction. It is therefore advisable to use methods which can indicate the presence of these regions in the junction and make the quality assessment and quantitative description of the tested devices possible