Large signal and noise properties of heterojunction Al_xGa_(1-x)As/GaAs DDR IMPATTs

Simulation studies are carried out on the large signal and noise properties of heterojunction（HT）Al_xGa_（1-x）As/GaAs double drift region（DDR） IMPATT devices at V-band（60 GHz）.The dependence of Al mole fraction on the aforementioned properties of the device has been investigated.A full simulation software package has been indigenously developed for this purpose.The large signal simulation is based on a non-sinusoidal voltage excitation model.Three mole fractions of Al and two complementary HT DDR structures for each mole fraction i.e.,six DDR structures are considered in this study.The purpose is to discover the most suitable structure and corresponding mole fraction at which high power,high efficiency and low noise are obtained from the device.The noise spectral density and noise measure of all six HT DDR structures are obtained from a noise model and simulation method.Similar studies are carried out on homojunction（HM） DDR GaAs IMPATTs at 60 GHz to compare their RF properties with those of HT DDR devices.The results show that the HT DDR device based on N-Al_xGa_（1-x）As/p-GaAs with 30%mole fraction of Al is the best one so far as large signal power output,DC to RF conversion efficiency and noise level are concerned.

Silicon Epitaxial Wafer for X Band Double Read-type DDR IMPATT Diodes by Atmosphere / Low Pressure Growth Technique

The silicon epitaxial wafter for X band double Read-type DDR IMPATT diodes has been fabricatedby normal-low pressure growth technique. The hyperabrupt impurity profile and very thin p-layer, n-layerwere achieved.

Large-signal characterization of DDR silicon IMPATTs operating in millimeter-wave and terahertz regime

The authors have carried out the large-signal characterization ofsilicon-based double-drift region （DDR） impact avalanche transit time （IMPATT） devices designed to operate up to 0.5 THz using a large-signal simulation method developed by the authors based on non-sinusoidal voltage excitation. The effect of band-to-band tunneling as well as parasitic series resistance on the large-signal properties of DDR Si IMPATTs have also been studied at different mm-wave and THz frequencies. Large-signal simulation results show that DDR Si IMPATT is capable of delivering peak RF power of 633.69 mW with 7.95% conversion efficiency at 94 GHz for 50% voltage modulation, whereas peak RF power output and efficiency fall to 81.08 mW and 2.01% respectively at 0.5 THz for same voltage modulation. The simulation results are compared with the experimental results and are found to be in close agreement.

Heterojunction DDR THz IMPATT diodes based on Al_xGa_(1-x)N/Ga N material system

Simulation studies are made on the large-signal RF performance and avalanche noise properties ofhet- erojunction double-drift region （DDR） impact avalanche transit time （IMPATT） diodes based on AlxGal-xN/GaN material system designed to operate at 1.0 THz frequency. Two different heterojunction DDR structures such as n-Al0.4Ga0.6N/p-GaN and n-GaN/p-Al0.4Ga0.6N are proposed in this study. The large-signal output power, con- version efficiency and noise properties of the heterojunction DDR IMPATTs are compared with homojunction DDR IMPATT devices based on GaN and Al0.4Ga0.6N. The results show that the n-Al0.4Ga0.6N/p-GaN heterojunction DDR device not only surpasses the n-GaN/p-Al0.4Ga0.6N DDR device but also homojunction DDR IMPATTs based on GaN and Al0.4Ga0.6N as regards large-signal conversion efficiency, power output and avalanche noise performance at 1.0 THz.

Large-signal characterizations of DDR IMPATT devices based on group Ⅲ–Ⅴ semiconductors at millimeter-wave and terahertz frequencies

Large-signal （L-S） characterizations of double-drift region （DDR） impact avalanche transit time （IM- PATT） devices based on group III-V semiconductors such as wurtzite （Wz） GaN, GaAs and InP have been carried out at both millimeter-wave （mm-wave） and terahertz （THz） frequency bands. A L-S simulation technique based on a non-sinusoidal voltage excitation （NSVE） model developed by the authors has been used to obtain the high frequency properties of the above mentioned devices. The effect of band-to-band tunneling on the L-S properties of the device at different mm-wave and THz frequencies are also investigated. Similar studies are also carried out for DDR IMPATTs based on the most popular semiconductor material, i.e. Si, for the sake of comparison. A compara- tive study of the devices based on conventional semiconductor materials （i.e. GaAs, InP and Si） with those based on Wz-GaN shows significantly better performance capabilities of the latter at both mm-wave and THz frequencies.

Effect of optical illumination on DDR IMPATT diode at 36 GHz

A reverse biased p-n junction diode with proper resonant cavity and boundary conditions is able to generate rf power and shows normal DC and small signal properties designed with semiconductor materials like 4H-SiC, GaAs, InP, Si-based DDR IMPATT structure at Ka band with dark condition. But when it is exposed to optical illumination through a proper optical window for both top mounted（TM） and flip chip（FC） configuration,it shows the influence on the oscillator performances in that band of frequency. The simulated results are analyzed for 36 GHz window frequency in each of the diodes and relative differences are found in power output and frequency of all these diodes with variable intensities of illumination. Finally it is found that optical control has immense effect in both FC and TM mode regarding the reduction of output power and shifting of operating frequency from which optimization is done for the best optically sensitive material for IMPATT diode.

Potentiality of semiconducting diamond as the base material of millimeter-wave and terahertz IMPATT devices

An attempt is made in this paper to explore the potentiality of semiconducting type-IIb diamond as the base material of double-drift region（DDR） impact avalanche transit time（IMPATT） devices operating at both millimetre-wave（mm-wave） and terahertz（THz） frequencies. A rigorous large-signal（L-S） simulation based on the non-sinusoidal voltage excitation（NSVE） model developed earlier by the authors is used in this study. At first,a simulation study based on avalanche response time reveals that the upper cut-off frequency for DDR diamond IMPATTs is 1.5 THz, while the same for conventional DDR Si IMPATTs is much smaller, i.e. 0.5 THz. The L-S simulationresultsshowthattheDDRdiamondIMPATTdevicedeliversapeakRFpowerof7.79Wwithan18.17%conversion efficiency at 94 GHz; while at 1.5 THz, the peak power output and conversion efficiency decrease to6.19mWand8.17%respectively,taking50%voltagemodulation.AcomparativestudyofDDRIMPATTsbasedon diamond and Si shows that the former excels over the later as regards high frequency and high power performance at both mm-wave and THz frequency bands. The effect of band to band tunneling on the L-S properties of DDR diamond and Si IMPATTs has also been studied at different mm-wave and THz frequencies.