High-Power Electromagnetic Effects on Semiconductor Devices

High-power electromagnetic stimuli, encompassing intense microwave pulses and electromagnetic pulses (EMP), pose critical challenges to semiconductor devices by inducing rapid heating, avalanche breakdown and dielectric stress. When high-power waves couple into devices such as PIN diodes, MOSFETs and GaAs high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs), the resulting electro-thermal and carrier-multiplication effects can lead to permanent burnout, gain compression or transient failure. Multi-physics simulation and experimental injection techniques have elucidated damage thresholds and failure loci, revealing the influence of device geometry, material properties and pulse parameters on vulnerability. Concurrently, emerging protection strategies—ranging from plasma-based limiters and structural optimisation of diodes to circuit-level suppressors—have demonstrated effective mitigation of insertion loss and response times. Such advances are vital for safeguarding radar receivers, communication front-ends and navigation systems, underlining the global importance of resilient semiconductor design in defence, space and civilian infrastructures.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have demonstrated innovative approaches to protect RF front-ends against high-power microwaves. A 2023 work introduced a slot structure integrated with a plasma discharge electrode that concentrates surface currents at 9.45 GHz, enabling a low response power level and broad band-pass characteristics; when xenon gas breaks down under high-power input, the limiter reflects over 40 dB with minimal insertion loss. A 2022 investigation used semiconductor multi-physics simulations to assess how the intrinsic-layer thickness and anode diameter of PIN diodes influence thermal burnout under microwave pulses, establishing refined damage thresholds through comparison of experimental and numerical results. As a foundational contribution, a 2020 analysis of PIN diode limiters under multiple microwave pulses quantified the relationship between insertion loss and pulse count, revealing that energy accumulation rather than peak temperature alone governs failure and guiding more accurate burnout criteria.

High-Power Electromagnetic Effects on Semiconductor Devices publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in high-power electromagnetic effects on semiconductor devices across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Electromagnetic pulse (EMP): A high-energy, short-duration burst of electromagnetic radiation capable of inducing disruptive currents and fields in electronic components.

PIN diode limiter: A semiconductor device with a positive-intrinsic-negative structure used to protect receivers by switching from low insertion loss to high attenuation under high-power signals.

Plasma discharge: Ionisation of gas within a device that creates a conductive medium, reflecting or absorbing incident electromagnetic waves to limit signal transmission.

Low-noise amplifier (LNA): A front-end amplifier designed to amplify weak signals with minimal added noise, commonly used in radar and communication systems.

Thermal burnout: Irreversible device failure resulting from excessive temperature rise due to cumulative energy deposition or poor heat dissipation.

References

1. Plasma-discharge-integrated slot structure for microwave power limiter. Scientific Reports (2023).
2. Impact of the structure on the thermal burnout effect induced by microwave pulses of PIN limiter diodes. Scientific Reports (2022).
3. Damage accumulation mechanism in PIN diode limiters induced via multiple microwave pulses. Scientific Reports (2020).
4. Analysis of Indirect Lightning Effects on Low-Noise Amplifier and Protection Design. Electronics (2023).
5. Failure Mechanism of pHEMT in Navigation LNA under UWB EMP. Micromachines (2022).
6. A Thermal Failure Model for MOSFETs Under Repetitive Electromagnetic Pulses. IEEE Access (2020).