US PATENT SUBCLASS 327 / 420
.~.~ Breakdown characteristic (e.g., punch-through, tunneling, etc.)

Current as of: June, 1999
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327 /   HD   MISCELLANEOUS ACTIVE ELECTRICAL NONLINEAR DEVICES, CIRCUITS, AND SYSTEMS

365  DF  GATING (I.E., SWITCHING INPUT TO OUTPUT) {12}
419  DF  .~ Utilizing three or more electrode solid-state device {7}
420.~.~ Breakdown characteristic (e.g., punch-through, tunneling, etc.) {2}
421  DF  .~.~.~> Zener
422  DF  .~.~.~> Avalanche

DEFINITION

Classification: 327/420

Breakdown characteristic (e.g., punch-through, tunneling, etc.):

(under subclass 419) Subject matter wherein the operation of the solid-state device is characterized by a sudden change from high dynamic electrical resistance to a very low dynamic resistance in a reverse biased semiconductor devices (e.g., a reverse biased junction between p-type and n-type semiconductor materials), wherein reverse current increases rapidly for a small increase in reverse applied voltage, and the device behaves as if it had negative electrical resistance.

(1) Note. Examples of breakdown characteristic are punch-through or tunneling. In punch-through, two adjacent diffused transistor regions become shorted together, causing a sharp rise in current. In tunneling, particles under certain conditions have the ability to pass through a barrier that normally it cannot pass over because of a required energy level.

SEE OR SEARCH THIS CLASS, SUBCLASS:

580, for miscellaneous circuits with breakdown transistor devices.

584, for miscellaneous circuits with breakdown diodes.