A thyri-magnetodiode

The magnetic field sensitivity of p-i-n diodes fabricated in silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) depends on the establishment of a bipolar conduction region. Because of low effective lifetimes of the SOS material, tau /sub eff/ approximately=10 ns, the bipolar regime occurs at high electric fields, the junction temperature rises, and magnetosensitivity is reduced. The reproducibility of Si-Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ interfaces is also a problem. A novel two-terminal devices has been built in 5-10 Omega -cm n-type 1.0- mu m-thick