Mechanism and rule of microwave pulse response of two-stage PIN limiter

Abstract

<sec>This paper aims to analyze the failure mechanism of the two-stage PIN limiter after having been injected by a microwave pulse. A two-stage PIN limiter model with high computational efficiency and accuracy is built by using the method of field-circuit collaborative simulation. Using this model, the temperature change of the PIN diodes during the injection of microwave pulse is simulated. The melting temperature of the PIN diode is selected as the failure criterion of the PIN limiter. The time and energy required for the failure of the PIN limiter under injection of microwave pulses with different frequencies and amplitudes are simulated. Furthermore, the mechanisms that trigger off these effects are analyzed. The relationship between the microwave pulse parameters and the PIN limiter failure time is summarized by using an empirical formula.</sec><sec>According to the simulation results, the temperature change of the second-stage PIN diode is relatively small compared with that of the first-stage. During the injection of the microwave pulse, the failure time and energy consumption of limiter show a certain regularity with the variation of microwave pulse amplitude and frequency, and this work discusses this regularity from the following three aspects. Firstly, the failure time and energy consumption decrease in a similar trend with frequency increasing. And with the increase in signal amplitude, the failure time and energy consumption tend to stabilize. Secondly, the increase in the signal amplitude leads failure time to decrease, which is similar to the relationship between failure time and the signal frequency mentioned before. But as the signal’s amplitude increases, the energy consumption first increases and then decreases slightly when the amplitude reaches about 900 V. Based on the theoretical analysis and the physical image of the two-stage PIN limiter, the reasons for these effects can be explained as the changes in the I-region's impedance and heat distribution change caused by electric field changes. Thirdly, the failure time and energy consumption show different sensitivities to different parameters of the microwave pulse. The signal frequency change has greater influence on the energy consumption than the signal amplitude change, while the amplitude change can exert a greater influence on the failure time than the frequency change.</sec>