2-terminal Devices Used in

Oscillators and Amplifiers

 Devices
• With proper bias, the devices should produce negative
resistance in the frequency range of interest
• Transit-time diodes (IMPATT, BARITT)
• Transferred electron device (Gunn diode)
• Tunnel diode
 Application Conditions
• For oscillation
– Resonance (overall XL+XC=0) for determining the oscillation
frequency
– Overall resistance of the system is zero or negative so that
the system is un-damped or getting AC power from DC
power source
• For amplification
– A circulator is used

Devices with negative

differential resistance
(NDR) are needed
 Realization of Circulator
Ferrite circulator: By
depositing a symmetrical Y- Typically, insertion
junction on a ferrite (mixture loss less than 1 dB can
of magnetic oxides and be obtained in reality.
nonmagnetic metal oxides)
substrate and applying a
perpendicular magnetic field
Tunnel Diode
I-V Curve of Typical p-n Tunnel Diodes
Considering Only Tunneling Current and Injection Current
Mechanism of Tunneling Current in p-n Tunnel Diodes
Considering Only Tunneling Current and Injection Current

Involves band-to-band transition

 Tunneling probability is larger for direct band-gap materials
 Mechanism of Excess Current
Tunneling via States in The Energy Gap

• Possible paths: CAD, CBD, CABD, and CD

Involves gap-state transition

 Relaxed k selection rule
 Current Components in p-n Tunnel
Diodes
• Tunneling current
• Excess current
• Thermal current

To obtain high Ip and low Iv, the device should

• Be very heavily doped
=> Larger tunneling current
• Be made of large bandgap material
=> Smaller excess current (but reducing
tunneling current)
• Have less deep levels at the junction
=> Smaller excess current
• Operate at lower T
Small-Signal Equivalent Circuit Model
of Tunnel Diodes in the NDR Region
Ls Rs

C Negative before some

-R
frequencies are reached

 R    CR 2 
Z in   R s  2 
 j L s  2 
 1  (RC )   1  (RC ) 
 Effect of Parasitic Series Components Ls and Rs

• As frequency increases, the real part and the imaginary part

of Zin become zero at fr and fx, respectively
1 R 1 1 1
fr  1 fx  
2RC Rs 2 L s C ( RC ) 2

• If fx<fr, then the diode itself could oscillate!

• fx>fr>operation frequency is desired.  Need small Ls (and Rs)
Resonant Tunneling through Double
Quantum Barriers
 Current Components in Resonant
Tunneling Diodes

J=JRT+JTH

JRT
JTH

As T ↓ or V0 ↑, Ip/Iv increases.
 Comments on Resonant Tunneling
Diodes
• Since the Vp is usually not high, resonant tunneling
diodes are used for low-power applications
• Unlike p-n tunnel diodes, resonant tunneling diode is
less related to indirect tunneling because the
tunneling involves only transitions within conduction
band or within valence band.  More suitable for
indirect bandgap materials
Transit Time Diodes
 General Discussion on the Impedance
in Drift Region
• Normally, the impedance of a reverse biased diode is purely capacitive and only
displacement current exists  Current leads voltage by /2 radians and net power
is zero
• In transit-time diodes, negative resistance arises from the injection-phase delay
and transit-time delay of carriers
Phase difference between terminal voltage and
terminal current  R can be negative, i.e. dv/dt
GND and di/dt are of opposite signs
Define
~
t
J : Total current density in drift region
~
J c : Internal carrier current density in drift region
~
J d : Displaceme nt current density in drift region
~
E : Electric field
Very thin  : Carrier injection phase delay angle
v s : Carrier saturation velocity

Note: Sinusoidal steady-state ac variables are complex

quantities in frequency domain
General Discussion on the Impedance
in Drift Region
~ ~ ~ ~
Suppose J c ( x  0) lags J by a phase delay angle  . Then J c ( x  0)  J e  j
For 0  x  WD ,
x x
 j
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  j (   v s ) ~
J  J ( x )  J c ( x )  J d ( x )  J c ( x  0)e vs  j s E ( x )  J e  j s E ( x )
x
 j (   )
~
~ J (1  e vs
)
 E ( x )  .
j s
WD ~

 ZD 
0
E ( x ) dx
( A : Device area)
~
JA
e  j (1  e  j )
1
j WD
 (  : Transit - time delay angle)
A v
j s s
WD
e  j (1  e  j )
1
j A R and X are
 (C   s : Drift region capacitanc e)
j C WD determined by  and .
cos   cos(   )    sin   sin(   )  Is more determined
[ ]  j[
C C
]
by physics.  can be
 R  jX designed.
 R v.s. 
cos  - cos(   )
R 
C
1 Totally positive
 y
C

WD

vs
A
C  s
WD

Totally negative
Some Doping Profiles
Some Doping Profiles
 VR

Mp and Mn stand for the multiplication factors of holes and electrons, respectively.
ap and an stand for the impact ionization rates due to holes and electrons, respectively.
 (1)

a is a strong function of electric field.

Since in the depletion the field is not
constant, a is not constant, either.
… (1)

-
 W

S
 Doping Concentration

(W. E. Schroeder et al., Proc. IEEE, 59, 1245(1971))

 (at high current)
The large amount of generated carriers may locally modulate the
conductivity of the depletion region
The electric field in the depletion region changes accordingly
The
i.e. terminal voltage changes accordingly
 Uniform carrier
charge density

( constant I)

W Ix
V   dx
xA A s v s
 One-sided impact ionization Two-sided impact ionization

e and h recombine.
E-field is increased. E-field is reduced.
 CURRENT

Carrier-induced
external ac current is
180 degrees out of
phase with ac
voltage.  Power
generation

(Only carrier current is plotted.

Displacement current is not
shown.)

For the case     2

 1. Barrier height changes in
real time with AC voltage.
2. Bias voltage can be smaller
than that of IMPATT.
3. Minority carriers travel in
the drift region.  Electric
field cannot be too small in
the drift region, either.

For the case     2

 Maximum carrier current
density lags maximum
electric field by 90 degrees.
i.e. It lags normal maximum
displacement current by
180 degrees.

~ ~ ~ ~
I A  J A A, V A  x A E A
 The impedance of the avalanche region is

and the ratio between 𝐽𝐴 = 𝐽𝑐 (𝑥 = 0) and 𝐽 is

 , Xd is capacitive, and  (g<0).
There is a lower limit for operation frequency.
 DC V in drift
region

DC V in avalanche
region

But VA/VD is better to be small.

Transferred Electron Devices
(TED)
 History of Gunn Effect
• In 1961, Ridley and Watkins proposed negative differential mobility
in semiconductors having two conduction band valleys
• In 1962, Hilsum predicted the transferred electron effect in GaAs
• In 1963, Gunn of IBM discovered (observed) the Gunn effect:
At high DC field, the current of a “Gunn diode” (a randomly oriented,
short, n-type sample of GaAs or InP) oscillates with a period equal to
the transit time of electrons through the specimen
• In 1964, Kroemer attributed the Gunn effect to be the negative
differential mobility mechanism described previously in 1961 by
Ridley and Watkins

Current waveform observed by Gunn

 Electron Drift Velocity in N-type GaAs
• Reported by Gunn in 1963 Reported by Sun in 1990

Negative differential So, the origin of NDR in TEDs is

mobility occurs! different from that in transit
 NDR time diodes.
Requirement for A Two-valley Semiconductor to
Obtain Negative Differential Mobility
l  u E dnl
( )(  ) p 1
nu nl dE
l  u
nl
where  l ,  u  E p , depending on scattering mechanisms

Discussion:
1. If impurity scattering dominates, p>0. This does not favor
the requirement, so it is not desirable. For lattice scattering,
p<0.  High field favors the requirement.
2. Because dnl/dE<0, l-u must be positive.
 Which Materials are Suitable for TED?
• E must be larger than kT to prevent thermal disturbance
• E must be smaller than Eg to prevent breakdown
• Mobility of lower valley must be larger than the upper one
•  Compounds such as GaAs, InP, and CdTe satisfy the criteria
J-E (I-V) Curve and Electron Distribution in
Conduction Band Valleys

𝐽 = 𝑛𝑞𝑣
For n-type GaAs
 What Is The Gunn Effect, Anyway?
• Charge fluctuation grows and “High-field domain” may form
when the material is biased in the negative differential
mobility region
• Gunn actually observed “spontaneous current oscillation
under high DC bias in the NDR region”. The high-field domain
forms and travels to the terminal periodically. This is called
“the Gunn mode”
REMINDER

The origin of NDR in transit time diodes is different from that in

TEDs .
1. The drift region of a transit time diode is depletion region;
TED is only a neutral material.
2. Usually, the electric field in the drift region of transit time
diodes is designed to be less than Eth. If no negative
differential mobility occurs in the drift region of transit time
diodes, the carrier charge concentration will not grow.
 Criterion for Domain Formation
• For the high-field domain to “completely form” (i.e.
at least e times) before reaching the contact terminal,
the drift time must be larger than the dielectric
relaxation time:   L      
 n0 q  *
t d
vs
v s
 Ln 0   1012 cm  2 for n  GaAs
q*
where n 0 is the doping concentrat ion
 * is the differenti al mobility
 is the differenti al conductivi ty

• Apart from detecting the terminal current, as a

domain passes a point in the device, the domain can
be detected by a capacitive contact at that point
 Domain Formation under DC Bias in
NDR Region
• Growth of the domain continues until the low and
high fields both reach some values outside the NDR
region and settle at the points where the currents in
the two field regions are equal. That is, after the
formation of the domain, the system will settle down
at a v s  E s state which is not in the NDR region

For n-type GaAs

 AC Operation Modes
-- Relation between terminal AC voltage and high-field domain
• Amplification Mode (when Ln 0 is too small)
– The device is biased in NDR region but the domain does not completely form.
However, since the charge fluctuation grows when traveling, the charge “signal” is
amplified
• Gunn Oscillation Modes (when Ln 0 is big enough)
– The device is biased in NDR region. Many possible relations exist between the total
AC circuit oscillation period o and the domain transit time t
 Transit-time domain mode (Resonant Gunn mode): 0=t
• Terminal current oscillates just like what Gunn observed
 Delayed domain mode: 0>t
• The high-field domain is collected while Es<E<Eth. A new domain cannot form until
E rises above Eth again
 Quenched-domain mode: 0<t
• E can be below Es. The domain collapses before it reaches the terminal
 Limited-space-charge accumulation (LSA) mode: 0<<t
• E can be below Es. No domain is formed because it collapses before settling down

• LSA mode is the simplest mode of operation for the

purpose of using NDR
 Design Parameters
• Device length, L
• Doping concentration, no
• Device cross-section, A

 ZD=-RD+jXD
 Process Considerations
• The material must be extremely pure and
uniform with low defect density
• Because the device is biased at high-field, heat
may build up and a heat sink is needed for
packaging
 Comments
• TED can be used at high
frequency
• Compared with IMPATT,
TED has lower noise
• TED needs to compete
with transistors at lower
frequency (e.g. <40 GHz)
and with IMPATT at high
frequency (e.g. >100GHz)