New Charge-Storage Effect in Siliconp−i−nDiodes at Cryogenic Temperatures

Abstract

A peak was observed in the $I\ensuremath{-}V$ characteristic of silicon $p\ensuremath{-}i\ensuremath{-}n$ diodes at liquid-helium temperatures when the voltage was changed rapidly in the reverse-bias direction. The size and structure of the peak were dependent upon the integrated incident light, or forward injection. The intrinsic rise time of the peak was found to be less than 0.3 nsec.