Analysis of Schottky diode failure mechanisms during exposure to electron beam pulse using TCAD simlulation

Abstract

Numerical process and device simulation tools are used in this work to analyze the physical mechanisms that contribute to catastrophic failure of power Schottky diodes exposed to an electron beam pulse. Simulations suggest that the diodes fail at the guard ring edge due to depletion region collapse that effectively shorts the guard ring to the substrate, leading to high current densities and thermal runaway. Numerical simulations are also used to examine techniques to increase survivability.