Simulation Study on Thermal Effect of Multistage PIN Limiter

The thermal effect and damage mechanism of multistage PIN limiters under high-power microwave (HPM) signals are analyzed in this paper. The simulation model of a double-stage PIN limiter is built based on the circuit-field co-simulation method, and the temperature changes of the first and second-stage diodes during the injection of the HPM signals are studied by using this model. It is concluded that the burning point is in the I-region. The point where the damage happened first is close to the P-region of the first-stage PIN diode. The temperature change of the second stage PIN diode is relatively small during the whole burning-out process, which will not cause damage. Finally, the temperature change and damage mechanism during the burning process are analyzed by combining the physical images of the temperature field, electric field, and current density.