CURRENT REVERSALS IN P-N-P TRANSISTORS

p-n-p silicon bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) have received a greater attention recently in light of the emerging dilemma of performance and power requirements for bipolar VLSI. The current reversal phenomena due to the avalanche breakdown have been the focus of the study of advanced Si n-p-n BJTs in the past. However, a thorough study of current reversals in p-n-p transistors has not been presented yet. In this paper, we study the base and collector current reversals in the inverse mode and their associated physical mechanisms. The collector and base current reversals have been found when the device is operated with or without avalanche effect. Physical mechanisms have been proposed to interpret these phenomena.