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Course Contents
No. Subject
1 - Transferred Electron devices (TEDs)
2 - Avalanche Transit-Time Devices
3 - Microwave Linear - Beam Tubes
4 - Microwave Crossed - Field Tubes
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ECE 326: Microwave Electronical Engineering
Chapter Two
Avalanche Transit – Time Devices
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Introduction
The transferred electron devices or the Gunn oscillators operate simply
by the application of a dc voltage to a bulk semiconductor.
Rely on the effect of voltage breakdown across a reverse biased p-n
junction to produce a supply of holes and electrons.
The avalanche diode oscillator uses carrier impact ionization and drift in
the high field region of a semiconductor junction to produce a power
generation at microwave frequencies.
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Introduction
Impact Ionization
If a free electron with sufficient energy strikes a silicon atom, it can break
the covalent bond of silicon and liberate an electron from the covalent bond.
If the electron liberated gains energy by being in an electric field and liberates
other electrons from other covalent bonds then this process can cascade very
quickly into a chain reaction producing a large number of electrons and a large
current flow.
This phenomenon is called impact avalanche.
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Introduction
Two different modes of avalanche oscillator is observed
i) IMPATT ( impact ionization avalanche transit time operation )
In this mode the typical efficiency is 5 to 10%, and frequencies are as
high as 100 GHz with silicon diodes.
ii) TRAPPAT (Trapped plasma avalanche triggered transit operation).
Its typical efficiency is from 20 to 60%.
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Introduction
Another type of active microwave device is BARITT ( barrier injected
transit time diode) .
Several different structures have been operated as BARITT diodes, such
as p-n-p, p-n-v-p, p-n-metal, and metal-n metal.
BARITT diodes have low noise figures of 15 dB, but their bandwidth is
relatively narrow with low output power.
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Read Diode (Physical Description
The basic operating principle of
IMPATT diodes can be most easily
understood by reference to the first
proposed avalanche diode, the Read
diode.
The theory of this device was
presented by Read in 1958.
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Read Diode (Physical Description
The Read diode is an n+-p-i-p+ structure, where the superscript plus sign
denotes very high doping and the i or v refers to intrinsic material.
The device consists essentially of two regions. One is the thin p region at
which avalanche multiplication occurs.
This region is also called the high-field region or the avalanche region.
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Read Diode (Physical Description
The other is the i or v region through which the generated holes must drift
in moving to the p+ contact. This region is also called the intrinsic region or
the drift region.
The p region is very thin. The space between the n+-p junction and the i-
p+ junction is called the space-charge region.
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Read Diode (Physical Description
Similar devices can be built in the p+-n-i-n+ structure, in which
electrons generated from avalanche multiplication drift through the i
region.
The Read diode oscillator consists of an n+-p-i-p+ diode biased in
reverse.
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Avalanche Multiplication
When the reverse-biased voltage is
well above the breakdown voltage,
the space-charge region always
extends from the n+-p junction
through the p and i regions to the i-
p+ junction.
The maximum field, which occurs
at the n+-p junction, is about several
hundred kilovolts per centimeter.
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Avalanche Multiplication
Carriers (holes) in the high field region near the n+ -p junction acquire
energy to knock down the valence electrons in the conduction band and
hence electron hole pairs are generated. This is avalanche multiplication.
The electrons move into the n+ region and the holes drift through the
space charge region to the p+ region with a constant velocity v d .
The field throughout the space charge is about 5 kV/cm.
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Avalanche Multiplication
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Avalanche Multiplication
The breakdown voltage for a silicon p+ -n junction can be expressed as
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