Avalanche ionization and dielectric breakdown in silicon with ultrafast laser pulses

1998; American Physical Society; Volume: 58; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1103/physrevb.58.2387

ISSN

1095-3795

Autores

P. P. Pronko, P.A. VanRompay, Christopher Horvath, Frieder H. Loesel, T. Juhász, X. Liu, G. Mourou,

Tópico(s)

Laser-induced spectroscopy and plasma

Resumo

Experimental evidence is presented demonstrating avalanche ionization as the dominant mechanism for dielectric breakdown in silicon with ultrafast laser pulses at above-gap photon energies. Data are presented for pulses between 80 fs and 9 ns at 786 nm and 1.06 \ensuremath{\mu}m. Associated electric fields range from 0.3 to 40 MV/cm. Avalanche ionization coefficients range from ${10}^{10}$ to ${10}^{14} {\mathrm{s}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}$ and are discussed in relation to semiempirical dc ionization theory and recent ac Monte Carlo calculations. Correlation is obtained between electron collision times and associated ionization rates.

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