We show that the OCVD method can be improved by providing the test diode with a third terminal that enables the suppression of the ohmic drop effect on voltage decay measurements. It's demonstrated that in this way the OCVD response can be extended up to the built-in voltage limit of the diode, where the carrier injection in the heavily doped regions and the Auger mechanism are dominating. Moreover, to physically interpret the numerical simulations, an analytical model has been developed which is capable to describe the voltage response as a continuous function of time and injection level. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.