Talk:Secondary breakdown

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The description in the Secondary breakdown article bears no resemblance to secondary breakdown as I understand it.

Secondary breakdown is a catastrophic thermal failure mechanism, supposed to be the result of current concentration ("current crowding") which then causes the junction temperature locally to exceed the maximum limit. It is an independent failure mechanism, not the result of any other failure mechanism.

To prevent its occurrence in service, the manufacturer defines a Safe Operating Area (SOA) for the transistor, in terms of a family of voltage vs. current curves with pulse duration as a parameter.

See, for example, http://www.semiconductor-sanyo.com/reliability/main.asp?id=M30A139&part=6

The possibility of secondary breakdown is inherent in bipolar junction transistors, for example, although the SOA varies with the type of construction of the device, and can be optimised by suitable geometric layout. Some types of semiconductor device do not suffer the problem.

This article needs the attention of an expert, leading to a complete rewrite.EEye 22:09, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

     Ok, I fixed it with your version. --Mcris31 (talk) 14:08, 26 November 2007 (UTC)