Uniformity of Electrical Current Flow in Cylindrical Semiconductor Specimens with Cylindrical Metallic End Caps

The distribution of current is computed in a cylindrical semiconductor specimen provided with cylindrical metallic end caps of the same diameter as that of the specimen and electrical lead wires of much smaller diameter. Nonuniformity of the longitudinal current density of 1% or less can be obtained in specimens with electrical resistivities at least 200 times greater than that of the end caps if the lengths of the specimens are at least equal to their diameters and if the length of each end cap is at least 0.3 diam.