Research on the damage mechanism of the PIN limiter diode SMP1330 under EMP

Abstract Overheating is the cause of PIN limiter diode damage under a high-power electromagnetic pulse, but the physical mechanism for overheating has not previously been clarified and thus is studied in this paper through measurements and simulations. The damage process of the PIN limiter diode SMP1330 is measured first, where a drastic voltage drop is observed. The mechanism causing the voltage drop is analyzed by using semiconductor device simulation. It is found a negative differential resistance is formed by the avalanche process after the first breakdown. This causes current filamentation and local overheating at the filament position, which overheats and, therefore, damages the diode.