High-energy heavy-ion-induced charge transport across multiple junctions

High-energy heavy ion experiments and numerical simulations show that two or more junctions bridged by an ion track respond in a coupled manner. The potential difference across the structure strongly affects the amount of charge collected at each of the junctions. Experiments with 1.7 GeV /sup 197/Au ions indicate that, for emitter biases less than or equal to 0.0 volts and potential differences of 5 or more volts, more charge may be collected at a junction than was initially deposited by the ion. Simulations show that, when an ion track intersects multiple junctions of a device, the responses of the individual junctions cannot be modeled independently of each other. Simulation and experimental results indicate that charge transport in a multiple junction structure cannot be modeled using simple geometry or funneling assumptions.