Effect of magnetic field on the turn-on characteristics of power semiconductor devices operated in pulsed power circuit

The turn-on characteristics of power semiconductor devices are evaluated under external magnetic field for studying the effect of external magnetic field generated in a pulsed power circuit. Two pin diodes that have a basic structure of power devices are connected in parallel and driven by a pulsed voltage source. It was found the magnetic field applied perpendicular to the diode current-flow could balance the diode current with that of the other diode. The carrier-density distribution inside of the diodes was measured by using a free carrier absorption technique. The data show that the carrier distribution changes from nearly the uniform one to the one-sided one. This concentration seems to be caused by the Lorenz force with the application of external magnetic field. As a result of the carrier concentration, the on-state resistance of the diode increases with increasing the magnetic field strength.