Unit III

NEGATIVE CONDUCTANCE MICROWAVE DEVICES

Beyond 109-Hz

Special devices are required which make use of instabilities that

occur in semiconductors

Negative conductance

Transit time diodes Gunn diodes

- combines carrier injection and - transfer of charge carriers
transit time effects from high-mobility state to
low mobility state.

- two-terminal device
- Can perform amplification / oscillation at microwave
frequencies in a proper circuit
- DC to Microwave conversion at high frequencies

biased to achieve tunneling or avalanche breakdown, with

an a-c voltage superimposed on the d-c bias.
carriers generated by injection process are swept through a
drift region to the terminals of the device
a-c component of the resulting current is approximately 180o
out of phase with the applied voltage
- giving rise to negative conductance and oscillation in a
resonant circuit.

(Note:- In the case of the tunnel diode, the I-V characteristic exhibits a clear
negative resistance region. However, the functions of amplification and oscillation
can occur when the local a-c current density is properly out of phase with the local
a-c electric field within the device)
 The IMPATT Diode - impact avalanche transit time (IMPATT) diode
(1) the n+ -p region at which avalanche
multiplication occurs and

(2) the i (essentially intrinsic) region through which

generated holes drift to p+ contact.

The device operates in a negative conductance

a.c signal superimposed mode when the a-c component of current is
ie., the diode is in a negative over a portion of the cycle during which
proper resonant circuit
the a-c voltage is positive, and vice versa.

The negative conductance occurs because of two processes, causing the current to lag behind the
voltage in time:

(1) a delay due to the avalanche process and (2) a further delay due to the transit time of the carriers
across the drift region.

If the sum of these delay times (1 &2) is

approximately one-half cycle of the operating
frequency, negative conductance occurs and the
device can be used for oscillation and amplification.

The pulse will drift through the length L of

the i region during the negative half-cycle if we
choose the transit time to be one-half the oscillation
period

Where f is the operating frequency and Vd is the drift

velocity for holes

If the length of the drift region is chosen

properly, the pulse of holes is collected at the p+
contact just as the voltage cycle is completed, and
the cycle then repeats itself.

- the hole pulse reaches its peak value not at /2 when the voltage is maximum, but at . Therefore,
there is a phase delay of /2 inherent in the avalanche process itself.

- A further delay is provided by the drift region.

- Once the avalanche multiplication stops (t > ), the pulse of holes simply drifts toward the p+
contact . But during this period the a-c terminal voltage is negative. Therefore, the dynamic
conductance is negative, and energy is supplied to the a-c field.
The QWITT Diode - quantum well injection transit time (QWITT) diode

In the QWITT diode, maximum resonant tunneling of electrons through

the well is achieved, if the dc bias is adjusted to satisfy the following
expression
The TRAPATT Diode TRApped Plasma Avalanche Triggered Transit

An avalanche zone moves through the i region, filling it with an

electrostatically neutral electron-hole population, or plasma

In a proper resonant circuit, the cyclic buildup and discharge of the

plasma gives rise to efficient microwave power generation.

Since electron-hole plasma is initiated during the transit of an

avalanche zone this type of operation is generally called a TRAPATT
cycle, for TRApped Plasma Avalanche Triggered Transit.
THE GUNN EFFECT AND RELATED DEVICES

utilize bulk instabilities of semiconductors, and do not require

junctions
Microwave devices that operate by the transferred electron
mechanism are called Gunn diodes
- Conduction electrons are shifted from a state of high mobility to a
state of low mobility by the influence of a strong electric field
Negative conductance can be achieved in a diode for which this
mechanism applies

Note:- shown only one

satellite valley for
convenience; there are
other equivalent
valleys for different
directions in k-space. The
effective mass ratio of 0.55
refers to the combined
satellite Valleys.

Current density J = qVdn.

Increasing field gives rise to negative differential conductivity
dJ/d
 Dipole forms from a
random noise
fluctuation
Formation of a
Nucleation sites dipole

Crystal Doping
defects etc. .
inhomogenity
-ve

Growth and drift of a

domain for conditions of
negative conductivity

Stable condition is realized

when the domain field
increases to point B and field
outside drops to point A
Velocity-Field characteristics
Electron drifts with constant for n-type GaAs
velocity Vs and the domain
moves without further growth

In a homogenous medium with positive resistance localised space charge

dies out exponentially with time ie.,
if is - ve
dielectric relaxation time
+ve
Instantaneous Initial space
charge charge

dielectric relaxation time in

Transit time the ve mobility region

Vs drift velocity
no electron concentration

For successful domain formation, there is a critical product of electron

concentration and sample length
In stable domain mode, o/p current waveform consists of a
series of spikes with a frequency equal to the inverse
transit time Vs/L
- Not appropriate for effective d.c to microwave
conversion

Resonant Gunn mode is desirable

- n0L product is so chosen that the domain width equals

about half the sample length
- current is collected during most of the ve half cycle of
the voltage

Domain collected early in the ve half cycle of the voltage

and formation of a new domain is delayed

The domain is quenched before it is collected

Limited Space Charge Accumulation mode

- Entire sample will be in the negative conductance state

- Domains do not form