Effects of impact ionization on I-V characteristics of GaAs n-i-n structures including hole trap

Numerical simulations of GaAs n-i-n structures with Cr deep acceptors (hole trap) in the i-layer are performed by considering the impact ionization of carriers. At low voltages, I-V curves show sublinear or saturated features, because the voltage is entirely applied along the reverse-biased n-i junction. When the deep-acceptor density is low, a steep rise of current occurs due to trap filling, whereas when the deep-acceptor density becomes high, the steep current rise occurs due to impact ionization of carriers at the reverse-biased n-i junction. In this case, the voltage for current rise becomes lower as the acceptor density becomes higher.<
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