MICROWAVE SEMICODUCTOR DEVICES

UNIT- 4

INTRODUCTION
o Conventional microwave devices like klystron, TWT, FWCFA, BWCFO
are bulky, require high voltages for o eration and occu y large s ace

o o o o

These devices work on rinci le of velocity modulation For low ower o erations, semiconductor devices are more suited due to their su erior ro erties !emiconductor devices have low noise, high frequency tolerance, greater bandwidth and lesser switching times !emiconductor devices include PIN DIODE, GUNN DIODE, UNNE! DIODE, I"P# , $#P# , "E%&E , 'IPO!#$ $#N%I% O$, ((D, "#%E$, !#%E$

PIN Diode
o o
Common a lications of all these devices in are modern communication systems, radars, navigation, military, medical and biological equi ments "ost microwave devices are fabricated on a Ga#s substrate because of its high mobility) # silicon substrate, on the other hand, has the advantages of low cost and high yield)

o erates under high"level in#ection$ i$e , the intrinsic %i% region is flooded with charge carriers from the % % and %n% regions a high breakdown voltage , low level of #unction ca acitance$ the larger deletion region of the &'( diode is ideal for a hotodiode$ lications as a

he following table summari,es the various microwave solid state devices and their a++lications -

PIN diode operation

When diode7forward biased, the in#ected carrier concentration is higher than the intrinsic level carrier concentration$ 8ue to this high level in#ection, which in turn is due to the de letion rocess, the electric field e3tends dee ly 9almost the entire length: into the region$ This electric field hel s in s eeding u of the trans ort of charge carriers from & to ( region, which results in faster o eration of the diode, making it a suitable device for high frequency o erations$

Device '/&ATT )unn

&requency !imitation * +,, )-. * 12, )-.

%ubstrate "aterial !i, )aAs, 'n& )aAs, 'n& )aAs, 'n& !i, )aAs )aAs

"a*or #++lications Transmitters Am lifiers 0ocal oscillators, Am lifiers Transmitters Am lifiers , Oscillators, !witches, /i3ers, and &hase shifters !witches, 0imiters, &hase shifters, /odulators, and Attenuators /ulti liers, Tuning, &hase shifters, and /odulators

F4T5-4/T * 1,, )-. "i"n 6aractor * 1,, )-. * +,, )-.

PIN diode uses and advantages

High voltage rectifier: The intrinsic region rovides a greater se aration between the &( and ( regions, allowing higher reverse voltages to be tolerated$ RF switch: The intrinsic layer between the & and ( regions increases the distance between them$ This also decreases the ca acitance between them, thereby increasing he level of isolation when the diode is reverse biased$ Photodetector: As the conversion of light into current takes lace within the de letion region of a hotdiode, increasing the de letion region by adding the intrinsic layer im roves the erformance by increasing he volume in which light conversion occurs$

IMPATT Diode
When diode7reverse"biased, current does not flow$ When reverse voltage e3ceeds a certain value, the #unction breaks down and current flows with only slight increase of voltage$ This breakdown is caused by avalanche multi lication of electrons and holes in the s ace charge region of the #unction$ The n #unction in the avalanche breakdown condition e3hibits negative resistance characteristics in the microwave frequency range$ !ince the negative resistance is based u on avalanche multi lication and transit"time effect of carriers, the device has been called the '/&ATT 9'm act Avalanche Transit"Time: 8iode

Devi e Stru ture

made by W$ T$ ;ead an n.-+-i-+. structure This device o erates by in#ecting carriers into the drift region and is called an '/&ATT diode$ The device consists of two regions< 1: n.+ region, where avalanche multi lication occurs$ =: i 9essentially intrinsic: region, through which generated holes must drift in moving to p+ contact$

Prin ip!e o" operation

? p+ n
Avalanche ~V(t) region N D-N A| | 1,=, 1,1> 1,1=

i
Drift region

n+ A

V IMPATT I-V Characteristics vAC VDC 0 Qinj T/2 T 3T/2 2T 5T/2 t iAC~-vAC rAC 0 !AC"iACvAC/2 0 t Power is transferred to the field IDC t

I(t)

x ideal real x I

T/2

3T/2 2T 5T/2 iAC

T/2

3T/2 2T 5T/2

C!assi"i ation
based on do ing rofile three basic ty es of 'm att diodes are<" /) %ingle drift region 0%D$1 " The !8; diode consists of a single avalanche .one and a single drift .one with +.nn. structure$ Double drift region 0DD$1 @ A 88; diode has a +.+nn. structure that consist of two drift layers, one for electrons and other for holes on either side of the central avalanche .one$ Double avalanche region 0D#$1 @ The 8A; diode has a +.ni+n. structure that consist of one drift .one sandwiched between two avalanche .ones$ The electrons and holes from the two #unctions travel across the central i"region in o osite directions and deliver ower$

App!i ations
These diodes make e3cellent microwave generators for many a lications like<" 1$ &arametric am lifier =$ &arametric u converter +$ &arametric down converter 2$ (egative resistance arametric am lifier$

2)

3)

Su##ar$
'/&ATT stands for 'm act Avalanche And Transit Time O erates in reverse"breakdown 9avalanche: region A lied voltage causes momentary breakdown once er cycle This starts a ulse of current moving through the device Frequency de ends on device thickness '/&ATT devices can be used for oscillator and am lifier a lications They can be fabricated with !i, )aAs, and 'n& Can be used u 2,, )-.$ (oisy oscillator 'n general, '/&ATTs have 1, dB higher A/ noise than that of )unn diodes '/&ATT diode is not suitable for use as a local oscillator in a receiver$

Gunn Diode
!ingle iece of )aAs or 'n& ,contains no #unctions also known as transferred electron devices, T48 43hibits negative differential resistance widely used < microwave ;F a lications for frequencies between 1 and 1,, )-.$ for generating microwave ;F signals "transferred electron oscillator 9T4O: am lifier "transferred electron am lifier 9T4A:$ 4asy to use relatively low cost method for generating microwave ;F signals$

%unn e""e t
'n 1A>+, Bohn Battiscombe 9B$ B$: )unn observed the first transferred electron oscillation using )allium Arsenide, )aAs semiconductor$ 4#bove some critical voltage, corres+onding to an electric field of 255567555 89cm, the current in every s+ectrum 0Ga#s1 became a fluctuating function of time: ;igh-field domain

Devi e Stru ture

fabricated from a single iece of n"ty e semiconductor an n"ty e bar with nC contacts 't is necessary to use n"ty e material because the transferred electron effect is only a licable to electrons and not holes found in a "ty e material$ Within the device there are three main areas, which can be roughly termed the to , middle and bottom areas$

(athode -

. #node

"etal-coated contact
Schematic diagram for n-type GaAs diode

%unn diode &asi s

even though it is called a diode, it does not contain a &( diode #unction$ termed a diode because it does have two electrodes$ 't de ends u on the bulk material ro erties rather than that of a &( #unction$ The )unn diode o eration de ends on the fact that it has a voltage controlled negative resistance$

Operation
When a voltage is laced across the device, most of the voltage a ears across the inner active region$ i$e$ voltage gradient is high$ The device e3hibits a negative resistance region on its 6D' curve$ This negative resistance area enables the )unn diode to am lify signals$ This can be used both in am lifiers and oscillators$ -owever )unn diode oscillators are the most commonly found$

T'o va!!e$ #ode! t(eor$

This negative resistance region means that the current flow in diode increases in the negative resistance region when the voltage falls " the inverse of the normal effect in any other ositive resistance element$ This hase reversal enables the )unn diode to act as an am lifier and oscillator$ According to the energy"band theory of n"ty e )aAs, there are two valleys in the conduction band
U++er valley 0%atellite valley1 !ower valley 0(entral valley1

T'o va!!e$ #ode! t(eor$

!ince the lower valley slo e is sha er then the one in u er valley, thus er electron effective mass in lower valley is higher then that in u valley !o that, the mobility of electron in u effective mass 6alley 0ower F er 4ffective mass /e ,$,>E 1$= /obility u Cm=D6$s E,,, 1E, er valley is less due to the higher

Varactor / varicap diode

's a device whose reactance can be varied in a controlled manner with a bias voltage$ 't is a #-n #unction with a s ecial im urity rofile, and its ca acitance variation is very sensitive to reverse"biased voltage Are widely used in arametric am lification, harmonic generation, mi3ing, detection, and voltage"variable tuning

Operation
The diode o erats under reverse bias conditions and this gives rise to three regions$ At either end of the diode are the & and ( regions where current can be conducted$ around the #unction is the de letion region where no current carriers are available$ As a result, current can be carried in the & and ( regions, but the de letion region is an insulator$

MES)ET operation
Depletion ode !E"FE#: A de letion"mode /4!F4T is conductive or %O(% when no gate"to"source voltage is a lied and is turned %OFF% u on the a lication of a negative gate"to"source voltage, which increases the width of the de letion region such that it % inches off% the channel$ Enhance ent ode !E"FE#: the de letion region is wide enough to inch off the channel without a lied voltage$ i$e /4!F4T 7 %OFF%$ When a ositive voltage is a lied between the gate and source, the de letion region shrinks, and the channel becomes conductive$ Fnfortunately, a ositive gate"to"source voltage uts the !chottky diode in forward bias, where a large current can flow$

M S! T
a high erformance form of field effect transistor that is used mainly for high erformance microwave a lications and in semiconductor ;F am lifiers$ su erior erformance, in the region of ;F microwave o eration