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Fluctuations of space-charge-limited currents in germanium

University of British Columbia

The d-c. and a-c. characteristics of p-n-p diodes were measured and interpreted on the basis of present theories. The equivalent parallel capacitance of these diodes was found to decrease as (f)⁻³/₂ at high frequencies in accordance with diffusion theory; from these measurements the lifetime of a hole in the base was estimated to be about 10 microseconds. The current fluctuations in the diode were measured by comparing them with a standard noise diode, and the results represented as a shunt noise current generator. From the frequency spectrum of the noise it was deduced that it consisted mainly of excess or 1/f noise except at low currents and high frequencies, and here the results were interpreted as a combination of shot and thermal noise. The deduced hot carrier temperature was compared with the theoretical values of Shockley and poor agreement was obtained, indicating inadequacy of the present theory.

Text

2012-03-01

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/41046

Physics

University of British Columbia

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