Microwave Engg.

Module 4: Microwave Solid State

Devices

by
Dr. S. D. Ruikar

1
 Syllabus
Tunnel diode, PIN diode, Gunn diode, LSA diode, Read
diode, IMPATT diode, TRAPATT diode, BARITT DIODE,
Varactor Diode, solid state ruby laser, semiconductor
laser

2
 Negative resistance
Negative resistance is a property of some electric
circuits where an increase in the current entering a port
results in a decreased voltage across the same port.
This is in contrast to a simple ohmic resistor, which
exhibits an increase in voltage under the same conditions.
•Negative resistors are theoretical and do not exist as a
discrete component.
•However, some types of diodes (e.g., tunnel diodes) can
be built that exhibit negative resistance in some part of
their operating range.
•Eg: a differential negative resistance resonant-tunneling
diode.
3
 Negative resistance

•Electric discharges through gasses exhibit negative resistance, and

some chalcogenide glasses, organic semiconductors, and conductive
polymers exhibit a similar region of negative resistance as a bulk
property.

•In electronics, negative resistance devices are used to make bistable

switching circuits, and electronic oscillators, particularly
at microwave frequencies

•Tunnel diodes and Gunn diodes exhibit a negative resistance region in

their I-V (current – voltage) curve. They have two terminals like a
resistor; but are not linear devices.

•Unijunction transistors also have negative resistance properties when

a circuit is built using other components.
4
Tunnel Diode

5
 Tunnel Diode
• Tunnel diode is the p-n junction device that exhibits
negative resistance. That means when the voltage is
increased the current through it decreases.

6
 Tunnel Diode
• The TUNNEL DIODE is a pn junction with a very high
concentration of impurities in both the p and n regions.
• The high concentration of impurities causes it to exhibit
the properties of a negative-resistance element over part
of its range of operation .
• In other words, the resistance to current flow through
the tunnel diode increases as the applied voltage
increases over a portion of its region of operation.
• Outside the negative-resistance region, the tunnel diode
functions essentially the same as a normal diode.
• However, the very high impurity density causes a
junction depletion region so narrow that both holes and
electrons can transfer across the pn junction by a
quantum mechanical action called TUNNELING.
• Tunneling causes the negative-resistance action and is
so fast that no transit-time effects occur even at
microwave frequencies.

7
 Tunnel Diode

8
 Tunnel Diode
For thick barrier, the electrons cannot cross the
barrier.
It can only pass the barrier if it has more energy than
the barrier height.

9
 Tunnel Diode
• For thin barrier, the electrons cannot cross the barrier.
• However, Quantum mechanics says that the electron wave nature will allow it to
tunnel through the barrier.

10
 Tunnel Diode
• When the p and n region are highly doped, the depletion region
becomes very thin (~10nm).
• In such case, there is a finite probability that electrons can tunnel
from the conduction band of n-region to the valence band of p-
region
• During the tunneling the particle ENERGY DOES NOT CHANGE

11
 Tunnel Diode
• When the semiconductor is very highly doped (the doping is greater than
No ) the Fermi level goes above the conduction band for n-type and below
valence band for p- type material. These are called degenerate materials.
Under Forward Bias

• Step 1: At zero bias there is no current flow

12
 Tunnel Diode
• Step 2: A small forward bias is applied. Potential barrier is still
very high – no noticeable injection and forward current through
the junction.
• However, electrons in the conduction band of the n region will
tunnel to the empty states of the valence band in p region. This
will create a forward bias tunnel current

13
 Tunnel Diode
• Step 3: With a larger voltage the energy of the
majority of electrons in the n-region is equal to that
of the empty states (holes) in the valence band of p-
region; this will produce maximum tunneling current

14
 Tunnel Diode
• Step 4: As the forward bias continues to increase, the number of
electrons in the n side that are directly opposite to the empty states
in the valence band (in terms of their energy) decrease. Therefore
decrease in the tunneling current will start.

15
 Tunnel Diode
• Step 5: As more forward voltage is applied, the
tunneling current drops to zero. But the regular
diode forward current due to electron – hole
injection increases due to lower potential barrier.

16
 Tunnel Diode
• Step 6: With further voltage increase, the
tunnel diode I-V characteristic is similar to that
of a regular p-n diode.

17
 Tunnel Diode
• Under Reverse Bias
• In this case the, electrons in the valence band of the p side tunnel
directly towards the empty states present in the conduction band of
the n side creating large tunneling current which increases with the
application of reverse voltage. The TD reverse I-V is similar to the
Zener diode with nearly zero breakdown voltage.

18
 Tunnel Diode
• Typical Tunnel Diode (TD) I-V
characteristic has two distinct features:
– It is STRONGLY non-linear (compare to the
resistor I-V).
– it has a negative differential resistance
(NDR) region

19
Tunnel Diode

20
Tunnel Diode

21
Tunnel Diode

22
 Tunnel Diode
Advantages of tunnel diode
• High speed of operation due to the fact that the tunnelling takes place at the speed
of light.
• Low cost
• Low noise
• Environmental immunity
• Low power dissipation
• Simplicity in fabrication
• Longevity
Disadvantages of tunnel diode
• Low output voltage swing
• Because it is a two terminal device, there is no isolation between input and output.
Applications of tunnel diode
Some of the applications of Tunnel diode are
• Tunnel diodes are used as very high speed switches
• Used as high frequency micro wave oscillator
Gunn Diode

24
 Gunn Diode
Definition:
Such type of semiconductor device which have only
N type doped (semiconductor) material, is called
“Gunn Diode.”
• It’s a unique component.
Gunn Diode is also known as:
Transferred Electron Device (TED).
Microwave Semiconductor Device.
25
Symbols for Circuit Diagram:

26
Transferred Electron Devices (TED)
• TED’s are semiconductor devices with no
junctions and gates.

• They are fabricated from compound

semiconductors like GaAs, InP, CdTe etc.

• TED’s operate with hot electrons whose

energy is much greater than the thermal
energy.
27
 Gunn diode
• A Gunn diode, also known as a transferred
electron device (TED), is a form of diode used
in high-frequency electronics.
• Its internal construction is unlike other
diodes in that it consists only of N-
doped semiconductor material, whereas most
diodes consist of both P and N-doped regions.
• In the Gunn diode, three regions exist: two of
them are heavily N-doped on each terminal,
with a thin layer of lightly doped material in
between

28
 Gunn diode
• When a voltage is applied to the device, the
electrical gradient will be largest across the thin
middle layer.
• Conduction will take place as in any conductive
material with current being proportional to the
applied voltage.
• Eventually, at higher field values, the conductive
properties of the middle layer will be altered,
increasing its resistivity, preventing further
conduction and current starts to fall.
• This means a Gunn diode has a region
of negative differential resistance.

29
 Gunn diode
Symbols for Circuit Diagram:

30
 Gunn diode
Construction:

Gunn diodes are fabricated from a single piece of n-type

semiconductor,

Source Material:

Tri-methylgallium and arsenic (10% in H2).

Most Common Materials :

Gallium Arsenide (GaAs)

and Indium Phosphide (InP).

31
 Gunn diode
Three main areas:

Top/Upper Area,
Middle Area,
Bottom Area.

Middle area (Active layer) has a doping level between

1014 cm-3 to 1016 cm-3 .

32
 Gunn diode
Types of Materials Used For Gunn Diodes
To Get Different Frequencies:

Gallium arsenide for frequencies up

to 200 GHz,

Gallium nitride can reach up to 3 THz.

33
 Gunn Diode

• Invented by J.B Gunn

34
Gunn Effect: Gunn diode
• Above some critical voltage (Corresponding to
Electric field of 2k-4k V/cm) the current
passing through n-type GaAs becomes a
periodic fluctuating function of time.
• Frequency of oscillation is determined mainly
by the specimen, not by the external circuit.
• Period of oscillation is inversely proportional
to the specimen length and is equal to the
transit time of electrons between the
electrodes
35
Gunn diode

36
Gunn diode

37
Gunn diode

38
 Gunn diode
• The current waveform was produced by applying
a voltage pulse of 16V and 10ns duration to an
n-type GaAs of 2.5 x 10-3 cm length. The
oscillation frequency was 4.5Ghz

39
Gunn diode

40
Gunn Effect

41
 Gunn Effect
• Differential negative resistance make the
sample electrically unstable.

42
 Gunn Effect
• Conductivity of n-type GaAs:

• e = Electron charge
• μ = Electron mobility
• = Electron density in the lower valley

• = Electron density in the upper valley

• is the electron density

43
Gunn
Effect

44
 Modes of Operation
• Gunn Oscillation Mode:
– (f x L) = 107 cm/s and (n x L) > 1012 /cm2
– Cyclic formation of High field domain
• Stable Amplification Mode
– (f x L) = 107 cm/s and 1011/cm2 < (n x L) >1012/cm2
• LSA Oscillation Mode
– (f x L) >107 cm/s and 2 x 104 < (n/f) > 2 X105/cm2
• Bias-circuit
– (f x L) is small. L is very small. When E=Eth current falls as Gunn
oscillation begins, leads to oscillation in bias circuit (1KHz to
100MHz)

45
 Gunn Characteristics
• Power: 1W (Between 4HHz and 16GHz)
• Gain Bandwidth product : >10dB
• Average gain : 1 – 12 dB
• Noise figure : 15 dB

46
Gunn Diode

Difference between Gunn

diode and P-N junction

47
 Difference between Gunn diode and P-
N junction
Gunn diode
Construction
• It only consists of N type
semiconductor material
• It has N+ n N+ material
No depletion region is formed
P-N junction diode
• It consists of P & N type
semiconductor material
• It has P type,N type and
depletion region between
these materials
48
 Difference between Gunn diode and P-
N junction
Gunn Doiode P-N junction Diode

49
 Difference between Gunn diode and P-
N junction
Symbols of Gunn Diode P-N junction

50
 Difference between Gunn diode and P-
N junction
Gunn Doiode P-N junction Diode

51
 Difference between Gunn diode and P-
N junction
Gunn Doiode P-N junction Diode

52
 Difference between Gunn diode and P-
N junction
I-V characteristics I-V characteristics
Of Gunn diode Of P-N junction Diode

53
 Applications of Gunn Diode
• Because of their high frequency capability,
Gunn diodes are mainly used at microwave
frequencies and above.
• They can produce some of the highest output
power of any semiconductor devices at these
frequencies.
• Their most common use is in oscillators, but
they are also used in microwave amplifiers to
amplify signals.

54
 Applications of Gunn Diode
• In radar transmitters
• Air traffic control (ATC) and Industrial
Telemetry
• Broadband linear amplifier
• Fast combinational and sequential logic circuit
• Low and medium power oscillators in
microwave receivers
• As pump sources
55
 Applications of Gunn Diode
Gunn diode oscillators are used to generate
microwave power for
• airborne collision avoidance radar,
• anti-lock brakes,
• sensors for monitoring the flow of traffic,
• car radar detectors,
• pedestrian safety systems,
• "distance traveled" recorders,
• motion detectors,
56
 Applications of Gunn Diode
• "slow-speed" sensors (to detect pedestrian
and traffic movement up to 50 m.p.h),
• traffic signal controllers,
• automatic door openers,
• automatic traffic gates,
• process control equipment to monitor
throughput,

57
 Applications of Gunn Diode
• burglar alarms and equipment to detect
trespassers,
• sensors to avoid derailment of trains,
• remote vibration detectors,
• rotational speed tachometers,
• moisture content monitors

58
PIN DIODE

59
 PIN DIODE
• PIN diode constructed by sandwiching an intrinsic
(pure) semiconductor between heavily doped p+ and n+
semiconductor
• An anti-reflecting coating is applied at the top face of
the pin diode to received light radiation and avoid
secondary emission
• By concentrating absorption at the intrinsic region, it
reduce the noise and slow switching response when it
radiates to light as in the case of conventional photo
diodes
• The reduce noise and increased speed can also be
achieved due to the fact that it has higher resistivity
than other devices of this family
• The speed of the PIN diode is limited by variation in the
time it takes electrons to pass through the device. This
time spread can be spread in two ways:
 By increasing the bias-voltage
 By reducing the thickness of intrinsic layer
60
 Types of PIN DIODE
• Metal – semiconductor PIN diode
• Hetero junction PIN diode

61
 PIN DIODE Operation
• A microwave PIN diode is a semiconductor device that
operates as a variable resistor at RF and Microwave
frequencies.
• A PIN diode is a current controlled device in contrast to a
varactor diode which is a voltage controlled device.
• When the forward bias control current of the PIN diode is
varied continuously, it can be used for attenuating, leveling,
and amplitude modulating an RF signal.
• When the control current is switched on and off, or in
discrete steps, the device can be used for switching, pulse
modulating, and phase shifting an RF signal.
• A drawing of a PIN diode chip is shown in Figure 1.1 (a). The
performance characteristics of the PIN diode depend mainly
on the chip geometry and the processed semiconductor
material in the intrinsic or I - region, of the finished diode.

62
PIN DIODE Operation

63
 PIN DIODE Operation
• When the diode is forward biased, holes
and electrons are injected into the I-
region. This charge does not recombine
instantaneously, but has a finite lifetime
(t) in the I-region.

• If the PIN diode is reverse biased , there

is no stored charge in the I-region and
the device behaves like a Capacitance
(CT) shunted by a parallel resistance
(RP).

64
 PIN DIODE Operation
• The PIN diode is a current controlled resistor at radio
and microwave frequencies.
• It is a silicon semiconductor diode in which a high
resistivity intrinsic I region is sandwiched between a P-
type and N-type region.
• When the PIN diode is forward biased, holes and
electrons are injected into the I region.
• These charges do not immediately annihilate each
other. Instead they stay alive for an average time called
the carrier lifetime.
• This results in an average stored charge Q which lowers
the effective resistance of the I region value R.
• When the PIN diode is at zero or reverse bias there is no
stored charge in the I region and the diode appears as a
capacitor shunted by a parallel resistance Rp.

65
•
PIN DIODE
Forward Bias Condition:
• The PIN diode must be forward biased (Low Loss or ON
State) so that the stored charge, Qs, is much larger
than the RF induced charge that is added or removed
from the I-region cyclically by the RF current. This
relationship is shown by the inequality: Qs >> Irf / 2 pf.

Figure: Typical Forward Biased Series Resistance vs Bias Current 66

 PIN DIODE
• Reverse Bias Condition:
• If large values of RF current are being switched, the
reverse bias voltage must be large enough that the RF
voltage during its forward excursion does not induce
the flow of RF current through the PIN diode.
• If the PIN diode becomes warm when operating as a
high power switch, the reverse bias voltage should be
increased to minimize this effect.
• PIN diodes are used to control RF power in circuits
such as switches, attenuators, modulators and phase
shifters.
• The process of controlling RF power naturally results in
some of the RF power being dissipated in the controlling
device.
• As a PIN diode dissipates power, its junction
temperature begins to rise.

67
 PIN DIODE
• The diode's junction temperature depends on the
amount of power dissipated, Pd, the ambient
temperature Tamb, and the thermal impedance, ( qJ),
between the diode junction and the diode's ambient
temperature.
• The RF System Requirement that usually determines
the choice of the particular PIN Diode to be used is the
RF power that the switch must handle.
• The PIN Diode characteristically has relatively wide I-
region and can therefore withstand larger RF Voltages
than Varactors or microwave Schottky diodes.
• An ideal PIN diode acts as a variable resistor controlled
by dc current.
• In attenuation applications, the performance is
independent of carrier power level or frequency

68
PIN DIODE

69
 PIN DIODE
• Bias Current Effect
• A glance at Figure 3 will confirm that attenuation
setting or bias level has a significant effect on high
power behavior.

• The high power effects are most serious at intermediate

bias current levels.

• At high bias currents, a large electric field is necessary

in order to have a significant effect on the large number
of charge carriers present in the intrinsic layer of the
diode.

70
PIN DIODE

71
 PIN DIODE
• Load Resistance and Temperature
Effects

• The temperature effects are related to

the increases in the bias resistor value.
• Current, and therefore attenuation, rises
with temperature with a voltage source,
corresponding to the low values of bias
resistance

72
 PIN DIODE: Applications
• It is used as a Photo Detector for most fiber optic
application
• They are Used in electronic pre-amplifier to boost
sensitivity
• They are Used as a variable resistor in at RF and
microwave frequency
• Widely used in RF modulator circuit to control RF
intermodulation distortion
• In a phase shifter circuit considered as a lumped
variable-impedance microwave circuit element.
• PIN diodes are utilized as series or shunt connected
switches in phase shifter designs. The switched
elements are either lengths of transmission line or
reactive elements

73
 PIN DIODE: Applications
• The microwave PIN diode's small physical size
compared to a wavelength, high switching speed,
and low package parasitic reactance, make it an
ideal component for use in miniature, broadband
RF signal control circuits
• PIN diode has the ability to control large RF signal
power while using much smaller levels of control
power.
• In modulator circuit, PIN diode’s minority carrier
provide a low level of RF Intermodulation
Distortion. (switching speed)

74
 PIN DIODE: Applications
• PIN diode attenuator circuits are used in
automatic gain control (AGC) circuits and power
leveling applications.
• The PIN diode attenuator may be a simple
reflective attenuator, such as a series or shunt
diode mounted across the transmission line.
• Some AGC attenuators are more complex
networks that maintain impedance match to the
input power and load as the attenuation is varied
across its dynamic range.
• Other methods are used to implement the AGC
function, such as varying the gain of an RF
transistor stage. The PIN diode AGC circuit
results in lower frequency pulling and lower
signal distortion.
75
PIN DIODE: Applications

76
IMPATT DIODE

77
 IMPATT DIODE
A wide variety of solid state diodes and transistor
have been developed for microwave use.

• IMPact ionization Avalanche Transit-Time

• Function as microwave oscillator.
• Used to produce carrier signal for microwave
transmission system.
• IMPATT can operate from a few GHz to a few
hundred GHz

78
IMPATT DIODE

79
IMPATT DIODE

80
 IMPATT DIODE Operation
• The diode is operated in reverse bias
near breakdown, and both the N and N-
regions are completely depleted
• Because of the difference in doping
between the "drift region" and
"avalanche region", the electric field is
highly peaked in the avalanche region
and nearly flat in drift region.
• In operation, avalanche breakdown
occurs at the point of highest electric
field, and this generates a large number
of hole-electron pairs by impact
ionization.
• The holes are swept into the cathode,
but the electrons travel across the drift
region toward anode.
Figure : Impatt Diode Operation
81
IMPATT DIODE Operation

Figure: The Build Up Of Microwave Oscillation.

82
 IMPATT DIODE Operation

• As they drift, they induce image charges

on the anode, giving rise to a
displacement current in the external
circuit that is 180° out of phase with the
nearly sinusoidal voltage waveform
• Figure 2 shows the buildup of microwave
oscillations in the diode current and voltage
when the diode is embedded in a
resonant cavity and biased at breakdown

83
IMPATT DIODE Operation

Figure : Close Up Current And Voltage.

84
 IMPATT DIODE Operation

• Figure 3 shows a close-up of the current and

voltage waveforms after oscillations have
stabilized.
• It is clear from Fig. 3 that the current is 180°
out of phase with the voltage
• This represents a NEGATIVE AC RESISTANCE

85
 Diode Mounting Procedure
and Precautions
• The IMPATT diode has a negative resistance
from DC through microwave frequencies.
• Consequently, it is prone to oscillate at low
frequencies, with the lead inductance from
bias circuit connections.
• The voltage due to bias circuit oscillations
may be large enough to burn the device out if
adequate precautions are not observed.
• It is prudent practice to suppress the bias
circuit oscillation.

86
 Diode Mounting Procedure
and Precautions
• Adequate heat sink must be provided for
the diode to operate properly.
• These IMPATT diodes have been
designed to operate in the precollection
mode.
• As the diode is tuned up from a low
operating current from a constant
current source, it will be noticed that at
the on set of pre collection mode, the
diode voltage falls down.

87
 Diode Mounting Procedure
and Precautions
• The power output will increase by
several dBs. with a slight shift in the
operating frequency.
• When the circuit is detuned in such a
fashion that the diode falls out of the
precollection mode, the diode voltage will
increase.
• The power dissipation will increase as
the power output falls down.
• If the diode is not adequately heat sink,
the diode may burn out.
88
ADVANTAGES OF IMPATT DIODE:

1. Operate at frequencies between about 3 and 100 GHz or more.

2. High power capability.

DISADVANTAGES OF IMPATT DIODE :

1. Major drawback of using IMPATT diodes is the high level of phase

noise they generate.
2. The noise figure for IMPATT is 30dB .
3. Tuning range is not as good as Gunn diodes.

89
 COMPARISION with conventional
Diode
• IMPATT is designed for high power
applications whereas, a diode burns
(heat-up) at high power.
• IMPATT is operated at reverse bias
whereas a diode is normally operated
at forward bias because at reverse
bias there is high voltage drop.

90
 IMPATT DIODE Applications

• A main advantage is their high power

capability.
• These diodes are used in a variety of
applications from low power radar systems to
alarms.
• Nevertheless these diodes make excellent
microwave generators for many applications.
• An alternating signal is generated simply by
applying a DC supply when a suitable tuned
circuit is applied.
• The output is reliable and relatively high when
compared to other forms of diode.
91
 IMPATT DIODE Applications
• In view of its high levels of phase noise it is
used in transmitters more frequently than as
a local oscillator in receivers where the phase
noise performance is generally more
important.
• Microwave Generator
• Modulated Output Oscillator
• Receiver Local Oscillator
• Parametric Amplifier (Par Amps)
• Intrusion Alarm Network
• FM Telecommmunication Transmitters
• CW Doppler Radar Transmitter.

92
 IMPATT DIODE Applications
The following products are available as examples of IMPATT
diodes application.

• Cavity Stabilized IMPATT diode Oscillators CIDO series.

• Pulsed IMPATT Power Sources IPSP series.

• IMPATT Active Frequency Multipliers IAFM series.

• Pulsed and CW IMPATT Injection-Locked Amplifiers IILAP and

IILA series.

• Voltage Controlled IMPATT Oscillators VCIO series.

93
TRAPATT Diode

94
•
TRAPATT Diode
Trapped Plasma Avalanche Triggered Transit
mode (TRAPATT)
• High efficiency microwave generator capable of
operating from several hundred MHz to several
GHz
• n+ -p -p+ or (p+ -n –n+)
• The doping of the depletion region is such that
the diodes are well “punched through” at
breakdown; i.e the dc electric field in the
depletion region just prior to breakdown is well
above saturated drift velocity level.
• It is derived from IMPATT Diode.
• Silicon or Gallium Arsenide is used for fabricating
TRAPATT Diode

95
 TRAPATT Diode: Feature
• It is a high efficiency diode oscillator .
• Its oscillations depend on delay in
current caused by avalanche process.
• The diode diameter is about 50 mm for
CW operations and is about 750 mm at
lower frequency for high peak power
application.
• It can be operated over a range of
400MHz to 12GHz.
• Its has an efficiency of 20% - 40%.

96
 TRAPATT Diode

A square pulse is used to excite TRAPATT diode.

97
 TRAPATT Diode: Principles of
Operation
• A high field avalanche zone
propagates through the diode and fills
the depletion layer with a dense
plasma of electrons and holes that
become trapped in the low field region
behind the zone.

98
Voltage and Current waveforms

AB – Charging of junction
capacitance
BC – Electron and hole plasma
formation by depressed field
DE – Plasma extraction
EF – Residual extraction
FG – Charging of diode
GA – Constant voltage after
full charging

99
 TRAPATT Diode
• At point A the electric field is uniform
throughout the sample and its
magnitude is large but less than the
value required for avalanche breakdown.
• The current density is J   s dE
dt

• s
= semiconductor permittivity of the
diode
• At the instant of time at point A, the
diode current is turned on.

100
 TRAPATT Diode
• The charge carriers present are those due to
thermal generation.
• Hence the diode initially charges up like a
linear capacitor, driving the magnitude of
electric field above the breakdown voltage.
• When a sufficient number of carriers are
generated, the particle current exceeds the
external current and the electric field is
depressed throughout the depletion region,
causing the voltage to decrease.
• As shown in figure (B to C)

101
 TRAPATT Diode
• (B to C) During this time interval the electric field
is sufficiently large for the avalanche to continue,
and a dense plasma of electrons and holes are
created.
• Some of the electrons and holes drift out of the
ends of the depletion layer, the field is further
depressed and “traps” the remaining plasma.
• The voltage decreases to point D.
• A long time is required to remove the plasma
because the total plasma charge is large
compared to the charge per unit time in the
external current.

102
 TRAPATT Diode
• At point E the plasma is removed, but
a residual charge of electrons remains
in one end of the depletion layer and a
residual charge of holes in the other
end.
• As the residual charge is removed, the
voltage increases (E to F).
• At F, all the charge that was generated
internally has been removed.

103
 TRAPATT Diode
• From point F to G, the diode charges up
again like a fixed capacitor.
• At G, the diode current goes to zero for
half a period and the voltage remains
constant at VA until the current comes
back on and the cycle repeats
• The electric field expression
qN A Jt
E ( x, t )  Em  x
s s
• Na is the doping concentration of the n
region and x is the distance
104
 TRAPATT Diode
• Thus the time t at which the electric field
reaches Em at a given distance x into the
qN A
depletion region is t  x
J

• Differentiating w r t time t
dx J
v2  
dt qN A

• Where v2 is the avalanche zone velocity

105
 TRAPATT Diode
L
s 
vs

• vs = saturated carrier drift velocity

 s = nominal transit time of the diode in the

high field.

106
 TRAPATT Diode
• Therefore the TRAPATT mode is still a transit-
time mode
• That is the time delay of carriers in transit
(time between injection and collection) is
utilized to obtain a current phase shift
favorable for oscillation.

107
 TRAPATT DIODE
ADVANTAGES OF TRAPATT DIODE:
• Its efficiency is relatively high.
• It can be used over a frequency range of
a few hundred MHz to several GHz.
DISAVANTAGE OF TRAPATT DIODE:
• It has high noise figure.
• Its use at upper microwave frequencies
is limited
• It generate strong harmonics due to the
short duration of current pulse.

108
 TRAPATT DIODE
APPLICATION OF TRAPATT DIODE :
It is used in
• in pulse radar as local oscillator.
• in radio altimeter.
• air borne and marine radars.
• in microwave beacons and landing system.
• in low power Doppler radars.

109
 BARITT DIODES
• Barrier injected transit time diodes
• Long drift regions
• The carriers traversing the drift regions are
generated by minority carrier injection from
forward biased junctions instead of being
extracted from the plasma of an avalanche
region
• P-n-p, p-n-v-p, p-n-metal and metal-n-metal

110
BARITT DIODES

111
 BARITT DIODES
• For a p-n-v-p baritt diode the forward biased
p-n junction emits holes into the v region.
These holes drift with saturation velocity
through the v region and are collected at the
p contact.
• The diode exhibits a negative resistance for
transit angles between π and 2 π.
• Much less noisy than IMPATT diodes.
• Noise figures are as low as 15 dB with Si
BARITT amplifiers.
• Narrow Bandwidth and power outputs limited
to a few milliwatts.

112
 BARITT DIODES
• A crystal n-type Si wafer with 11 Ω-cm
resistivity and 4 x 1014 per cubic cm doping is
made of a 10-um thin slice.
• The wafer is sandwiched between two PtSi
Schottky barrier contacts of about 0.1 um
thickness.

113
BARITT DIODES

114
 BARITT DIODES
The mechanisms responsible for oscillations are derived from:
1. The rapid increase of the carrier injection process caused
by decreasing potential barrier of the forward biased
metal semiconductor contact.
2. An apparent 3π/2 transit angle of the injected carrier that
traverses the semiconductor depletion region.

• The rapid increase in terminal current with applied

voltage (above 30 V) is caused by thermionic hole
injection into the semiconductor as the depletion layer of
the reverse-biased contact reaches through the entire
device thickness.

115
BARITT DIODES

116
 BARITT DIODES
• The critical voltage is given by

• The current increase is not due to avalanche

multiplication, as is apparent from the magnitude of
the critical voltage and its negative temperature
coefficient.
• At 77 K the rapid increase is stopped at a current of
about 10-15 A.

117
Varactor Diode

118
 Varactor Diode
• A varactor corresponds to a device whose reactance can be varied in a
controlled manner with bias voltage.
• Such diodes are widely used in parametric amplification, harmonic
generation, mixing, detection and voltage variable tuning.
• In diffused junction diode, a depletion region is formed under reverse bias
and the diode behaves as a capacitor with the junction itself acting as a
dielectric between two conducting materials.
• As the applied reverse bias is varied, the width of the depletion region also
varies proportionally; hence the diode capacitance.
• Thus a reverse bias p – n junction can be used as a voltage controlled
capacitor.

119
 Varactor Diode
To maintain charge neutrality we must have
ND WD  NA WA

The charges inside must satisfy the Poisson’s

equation given by,
d2 V  x  x

dx 2 s
0 for x   WD
 eN for  WD  x  0

where x   D
eNA for 0  x  WA
 0 for x > 0

From electric field profile we have,

dV  x 
 0 at x   WD and WA
dx
From potential profile we have,
V  x   0 at x  0
120
 Varactor Diode
Integrating the Poisson’s equation twice and using the boundary
conditions we get,
 eND  x 2 
   WD x  for  WD  x  0
 s  2 
V  x 
 eNA  x  W x 
2

   2 A  for 0  x  WA
 s  

Thus the total voltage across the diode is,

eWA2NA  NA  2 s VD
e VD  1 WA 
VD  V   WD   V  WA  
2s

WD2ND  WA2NA  2 s

 ND   N 
eNA  1  A 
ND WD  NA WA  ND 

Similarly we can write Reveals that the

2s VD capacitance, and hence
WD 
 N  reactance, is a non-linear
eND  1  D 
 NA  function of applied voltage.
The capacitance per unit area can be given by
Q  C0  s eNA ND
Cd    eNA WA   where C0 
VA VA  VA  2 NA  ND  VD
1  
 VD  121
 Varactor Diode
At high field the abrupt junction does not work properly and it is required
to use graded junction or hyper abrupt junction. For graded indexed
junction the Poisson’s equation modifies to,
d2 V  x  eN

dx 2 s
where N is the generalized doping distribution and is expressed as N  Bx m

Integrating Poisson’s equation with

boundary condition, the expression for
capacitance per unit area can be given
by 1
 qB m 1
 m 2
Cd   s

  m  2  VA  VD  

122
 Varactor Diode
For hyper abrupt junction one particular point of interest happens for
m   3 2 . For this impurity distribution resonant frequency is linearly

dependent upon the bias voltage. This device behavior is useful in

frequency modulation and distortion elimination.

The efficiency of a varactor diode is expressed by a quality factor,

C jRp
Q
1  2 C2jRpRs

123
 Varactor Diode
• By construction there are two types of varactor diodes, namely, (i) p – n
junction and (ii) Schottky barrier.
• Varactor diodes can be fabricated using Si or GaAs. Si varactor diode
generally operates at low frequency but has the advantage of easy fabrication.
On the other hand GaAs varactor diodes operates at high frequency and
posses high Q.
fc   2C jRs 
1
• The cut-off frequency of varactor diode can be expressed as

In practice R s increases with frequency

and the use of varactor diode gets
limited below 0.2fc

124
 Varactor Diode
Varactor diodes find wide applications in switching and modulation, harmonic
generation, frequency conversion, low noise amplification, parametric
amplification, pulse generation and shaping, tuning stage of radio receiver,
frequency multiplier etc.

When an ac pumping voltage is applied

Vac  V0 sin 0 t  to a reverse bias diode, the
diode capacitance varies as
n
 VR  V0 sin  0 t  
C j  t   C j0 1  
 V B 
Expanding in a harmonic series we get,
C j  t   C0  C1 sin  0 t   C2 sin  20 t   C3 sin  30 t   
Thus a varactor diode
The corresponding time varying capacitance will be
can be used as a
i  t   I1 cos  0 t   I2 cos  20 t   I3 cos  30 t   
frequency multiplier or
harmonic generator
125
 Varactor Diode

This circuit is also called as

varactor tripler.

• The input resonant circuit prevents the unwanted frequencies to reach the
diode from input side.
• The output resonator is tuned to the third harmonic to produce a frequency 3f.
• The intermediate resonator is called idler. It eliminates the heterodyning
between the input and output frequencies.
• Since the harmonic current is capacitive, very little power loss occurs and the
varactor multiplier operates at high efficiency without adding excessive noise.
2
• The maximum efficiency of such frequency multiplier is 1 n where “n” is the
multiplication factor
126
 Parametric Amplifiers

• A parametric device uses a nonlinear reactance, like capacitance or

inductance, or a time varying reactance for its operation.
• The term “parametric” is derived from “parametric excitation” because
such reactive parameters can be used to produce capacitive or inductive
excitation.
• Parametric excitations can be classified as parametric amplification and
oscillation.
• The parametric amplifiers utilize ac, rather than dc biasing and hence, in
this respect, they are analogous to quantum amplifiers.
• At present varactor diodes are most widely used in parametric amplifiers.

127
 Parametric Amplifiers
• Let us consider a LC tank circuit where C is a conventional parallel plate
capacitor, except with a variable spacing.
• For a given plate spacing, the tank will oscillate at its natural resonance
frequency.
• Now if we want to pull apart the plates of the capacitor up to some
distance, just before the capacitor voltage reaches it maximum value, we
had to work against the field.
• Since there is no dissipative mechanism in the tank circuit, this energy is
injected into the tank circuit and thus amplifies the amplitude of oscillation.
• Alternatively we can say that since V 1 C a decrease in capacitance due to
increase in plate separation will lead to an increase in V.

128
 Parametric Amplifiers
• We can restore the capacitor by quickly pushing the plates together again
900 the tank voltage is zero. Since voltage is zero, no work is done
later, when
this time.
• Now another 900 later, again if we pull the plates apart, energy is again
injected into the tank circuit. Therefore amplification will again take place.
• Thus by injecting energy twice in every cycle in this manner, we can continue
the amplification of the signal.

• In a practical amplifier, the energy comes from a separate oscillator, called

the pump oscillator. The pump signal modulates the diode capacitance,
causing it to produce negative reactance at the input frequency.

129
 Parametric Amplifiers
• Due to non-linear effect of the diode, frequency mixing between the
pump frequency and signal frequency takes place and idler frequency
•  fi  fp  fs  is generated.
• If pump frequency is more than the double of source frequency then idler
frequency is also greater than the source frequency. Such parametric
amplifiers are called parametric up-converter.
fs 2fs
• If pump frequency is in between and , the idler frequency is less
than the source frequency and the parametric amplifier is called
parametric down-converter.
• If pump frequency is equal to 2fs
then idler frequency is equal
to f s and the parametric
amplifier is called to be
degenerate.
130
Manley – Rowe power relation:

• Each band pass filter can pass only one harmonic component mfp  nf. s
• The overall circuit isolates all the harmonics and dissipate their power in
separate resistive loads.
• The Manley Rowe relations establish two constrains that governs the
conversion of input power at frequencies fs and fp into frequencies mfp  nf. s
131
The total voltage across the nonlinear capacitor C(t) is given by
v  v s  v p  Vs cos  s t   Vp cos  p t 

If the charge on the capacitance be a single valued function of the applied

voltage then expanding it in Taylors series around we can write,
Q 1  2Q
Q  v   Q 0  v v2  
v v  0 2 v v  0
2

Vp
Since all powers of v occurs equation v  vp  v s 
2
e jp t
e
 jp t
  V2  e
s js t
 e  js t 
insures that the charge Q will have all the harmonics of fs and fp .

Consequently the general expression of the charge deposited on the capacitor is

given by,
 
j mp t  ns t 
Q   Qm,ne
m  n 

Since the charge Q is real we must have Qm,n  Q*m,n

This satisfies that the (m,n) and (-m,-n) terms will combine
to form a real function of time with frequency mfp  nfs .
132
  
j mp t  ns t 
The total voltage v can be expressed as v 
m  n 
Vm,n e

To make the voltage v real, we must have Vm,n  V*m,n

The current flowing through C(t) can be written as

 
dQ j  m  t  n t 
i    Im,n e p s where Im,n  j  mp  ns  Qm,n and Im,n  I*m,n
dt m n 

Since the capacitance C(t) is pure reactance, there will be no net power
into or out of it. Further if we assume fs and fp are incommensurable,
there will be no time – average power due to interacting harmonics.

The average power at the frequency is

Pm,n  Vm,nIm,n
*
 Vm,n
*
Im,n  Vm,nIm,n
*
 Vm,nI*m,n  Pm,n
 
The conservation of power can be written as  P
m  n 
m,n 0

Multiplying each term by  m p  ns   mp  ns 

and then separating them we can write,
133
   mPm,n   nPm,n
p   m
m  n   ns
 s   m
m  n   ns
0
p p

Now Pm,n *
Vm,nIm,n  Vm,nI*m,n *
Im,n Im,n
  Vm,n  Vm,n
m p  ns m p  ns mp  ns m p  ns
Im,n
 jQm,n
mp  ns 
Pm,n
mp  ns

 Vm,n  jQm,n
*

 Vm,n  jQm,n    jVm,nQm,n
*
 jVm,nQ*m,n

Above equation reveals that the factor Pm,n m p  ns  is independent

of p and s .
For any arbitrary selection of p and s , we can always adjust the
network, external to C, so that the resultant current keep all the voltage
amplitudes Vmn unchanged.

134
 is only a function of
Since Qmn this
Vmnimplies that will also
Qmn remain

unchanged.
The above discussion implies that even with arbitrary change in and , the
p
P
term s will be constant.
m,n

mp  ns

  mPm,n   nPm,n
Therefore to satisfy equation p   m
m  n   ns
 s   m
m  n   ns
0
p p

we must have

  mPm,n   nPm,n
  m  ns
0 and   m
m  n   ns
0
m  n  p p

The above equations are known as Manley Rowe relation. These

equations can also be written in a different form
  mPm,n   mPm,n
  m
m  0 n   ns
  m
m  0 n   ns
0
p p

135
Since Pm,n  Pm,n , the two parts of the above equation are same and we
can write,
  mPm,n
  m
m  0 n   ns
0
p
  nPm,n
Similarly it can be shown that,   m
m  n  0  ns
0
p

The above equations are the standard form of Manley Rowe relation.
It should be noted that Manley Rowe relation are general power
conservation relation and do not depend on any specific circuit,

Linearized equations for parametric amplifiers:

For a linear capacitance the current through the capacitor is given by

dQ dv
i C
dt dt
Now if C is a function of time the above equation modifies as
dQ d dC  t  dv
i  C  t  v  v  Ct
dt dt dt dt 136
Further instead of time varying linear capacitance if we have a nonlinear
capacitance, where the charge is a non linear function of voltage then the
dQ dQ dv
current can be expressed as i 
dt dv dt

The total voltage across the nonlinear capacitor C(t) is given by

v  v s  v p  Vs cos  s t   Vp cos  p t  where Vs  Vp

Expanding the charge on the capacitor by Taylors series around the point
v s  0 we obtain
Q 1  2Q
Q  v   Q  vs  vp   Q  vp   vs  v s2  
v vs 0 2 v 2 v
s 0

Since Vs  Vp we can neglect the higher order terms retaining first two
terms only. Therefore,
dQ  v  dQ  v p  d  Q 
i    vs 
dt dt dt  v vs 0 

137
 dQ
Now if we denote, Ct  then above equation modifies as,
dv vs  0
dQ  v p  d
i
dt

dt
C  t  vs

Comparing the expressions obtained for “i” it can be concluded that the
nonlinear capacitance behaves like a time varying linear capacitance
provided the signal amplitude is small compared to the pumping signal.
If the pumping voltage is also small compared to the DC bias voltage,


then we can write C  t   C0 1  2Mcos  p t  
Parametric Up-converter:

In a parametric up-converter, a pump voltage of frequency fp and fs a signal

at frequency is applied to a diode and the output signal is taken at the
output frequency f0  fp  fs .

138
The voltage across the diode at these three frequencies can be expressed as,


v s  Vs e js t  Vs* e js t  2 v p  Vp e  jp t
 Vp* e
 jp t
 2 
v 0  V0 e j0 t  V0* e j0 t  2

The expressions for the current can be generalized as,

dQ  v p  1 d
i
dt

2 dt 
 
C0 1  2Mcos  p t  Vs e js t  Vs* e  js t  V0 e j0 t  V0* e j0 t 
 

C0 
i
2 

js Vs e js t  js Vs* e js t  j0 V0 e j0 t  j0 V0* e  j0 t 

M j0 Vs e j0 t  j  s  p  Vs* e
 j s p  t
 j  0  p  V0 e
j 0 p  t
 js V0* e  js t

 j  s  p  Vs e
j s p  t
 j0 Vs* e  j0 t  js V0 e js t  j  0  p  V0* e
 j 0 p  t

Retaining only the s and 0 term of the above equations we get
C
is  i0  0  js Vs e j t  js Vs* e  j t  j0 V0 e j t  j0 V0* e  j t 
s s 0 0

2 
M  j0 Vs e j t  js V0* e  j t  j0 Vs* e  j t  js V0 e j t  
0 s 0 s

139
where i s and i 0 signal current and output current and can be written as


is  Is e js t
I e
*
s
 js t
 2 
i0  I0 e j0 t  I0* e j0 t  2

Comparing the expressions of i s and i 0 with the expression of is  i0

in last page we get,

Is   js C0 js C0M  Vs 


I   j C M j C   V 
0  0 0 0 0  0

The series model has

chosen so that the
three circuit loops has
resonant frequencies fs ,
fp & f0 and current with

only these respective

frequencies can exist
the loop. 140
The three circuit loops are coupled together through the time varying
part of capacitance. Therefore, for the two frequencies fs and f0 , the
equivalent circuit can be reduced, as shown

In the network the resonant circuits have been assumed lossless and
the circuit losses have been considered to be included in R g and RL . At
the end of the analysis, R g and RL can be split into two parts so that the
circuit losses from the generator and load impedance can be
separated. In practice, the circuit losses are small compared with the
loss arising from the diode resistance and the external loading.
141
 Solving the matrix equation for V s and V0 we get,
 Vs  1  1 jsC0 M j0 C0  Is 
V    M j C
 0  1 M
2
 s 0 1 j0 C0  I0 

For the input circuit we may write

 1 
V1  Is Rg  R s  js L s  L1     Vs
 js  Cp  C1  


V1  Is Rg  Rs 
   
2s L s  L1   Cp  C1  1  M2 C0  1  M2 C0   Cp  C1  

jMI0

 j s  Cp  C1  1 
 M2
C 0    
 0 1  M2 C0

Similarly for the output circuit we get


0  I0 RL  Rs 
   
02 L s  L 2   Cp  C2  1  M2 C0  1  M2 C0   Cp  C2  

jMIs

 j 0  Cp  C 2  1 M2
C 0    
 s 1  M2 C0

142
Now let us assume that the circuit is tuned so that the following conditions are valid:

  
2s L s  L1   Cp  C1  1  M2 C0  1  M2 C0   Cp  C1  
and   
02 L s  L 2   Cp  C2  1  M2 C0  1  M2 C0   Cp  C2  
Substituting the above assumptions in the KVL equations we get
jMI0
V1  Is Rg  R s   and 0  I0 RL  Rs  
jMIs

j0 1  M C0 2
 
s 1  M2 C0 
Solving the above equations for I0 we get

I0   j

0 C0M 1  M2 V1
M2  0 s Rg  Rs  R  R  1  M 
2
2
L s C02

It may be noted that the circuit losses can be included at this point, in
the expression of I0 , by replacing R g and RL by R g  Rl1  and RL  Rl2 
respectively. However for simplicity we will consider Rl1  Rl2  0 .

143
The maximum power input from the generator can be expressed as
1 V12
Pin,max 
2 4R g
Similarly maximum power developed in the load can be expressed as
1 2
Pload,max  I0 RL
2 2
4 I0 RLRg
Pload,max
Therefore the gain is, G0  
Pin,max V12

Substituting the expression of I0 in the above equation we get

4RLR gM2
G0  2
 
M2
   R  R s   RL  R s   
2
s C0 1  M
2 2 2
 g
  
2

 0 s C02 1  M2 

To adjust the gain R g and RL needs to be adjusted. Since they appear

symmetrically in the expression of G0 , the optimized values of R g and RL
4RL2M2
are equal. Therefore we can write, G0  2
 
M2
 
s C0 1  M RL  Rs   
2 2
2 2 2

  
2

 0 s C02 1  M2 144
The maximum gain will be obtained when
 
 
 
dG0 d  2 2
4RLM 
  2 
0
dRL dRL    
2  M2  

 2s C02 1  M2  
 L R  R 
2
 2 
 
s
  0 s C02 1  M2  
 

Solving the above equation for RL we get,

M2
RL  Rs 1 
 
2
0 sRs2 1  M2 C02

The effective Q of the diode can be defined as 1

Q

Rs s 1  M2 C0 
Substituting the above equation in the expression for RL we get,

s
MQ 
2
RL  R s 1 
0

145
Substituting the above equation in the expression for G0 we get,

  2 
4RS2  1  s MQ   M2
 0 
G0  2

2  
2 
 M 2
2 2
 
s C0 1  M  Rs  Rs 1  s  MQ 
2

2
  
0  
0 s C0 1  M 
2
2 2
 

s
MQ  in the above equation we get
2
Further substituting  
0
0 
G0 

s 1  1  

2

According to Manley Rowe relation the maximum gain can be 0 s.

Therefore the factor  1  1    may be considered as a gain degradation
2

factor.
As the diode Q approaches infinity, i.e., R s approaches zero,  approaches
infinity; hence gain degradation factor becomes unity, as predicted by
Manley Rowe relation.
146
To achieve high gain with an up-converter, the ratio 0 s should be large.
However at microwave frequency this is not very practical. That is why the
use of up-converters are restricted below 1 GHz. To obtain higher gain,
negative resistance parametric amplifiers are generally used.

Negative resistance parametric amplifier:

A negative resistance parametric amplifier permits the current of signal

frequency fs , pump frequency fp and at the idler frequency fi  fp  fs .

147
Now vi   1
2
Ve
i
j p s  t
 V *  j p s  t
i e 
i  I e 
1  j p s  t  j p s  t
i i  Ii* e  1 M 
2 
 Vi  1  jiC0 js C0   Ii 

Proceeding as before we can show that V*    
 i  1  M  M 1  Ii* 
2

 
 jiC0 js C0 

For the input and output circuit we can write

 1 1  MIi*
V1  Is R1  Rs  js L s  L1    


js  Cp  C1  js 1  M C0  ji 1  M2 C0
2
    
 1 1  MI*s
V2  Ii R2  Rs  ji L s  L 2    

 
ji  Cp  C2  ji 1  M2 C0  js 1  M2 C0
   
imposing the tuning conditions

1  1 1  1  1 1 
s 
2
     2
  
L s  L1  Cp  C1 1  M C0 

2
  
and 0
L s  L 2  Cp  C2
 
1  M C0 
2

we get 148
 jMIi* jMI*s
V1  R1  Rs  Is  and V2  R 2  Rs  Ii 

i 1  M C0 2
 
s 1  M2 C0 
If we assume V2  0 , then we can solve the above equations for Ii .
Substituting this Ii in the expression of gain G0  4R1R 2 Ii 2 V12 we get

4R1R2M2
G0  2
 
M2
2s C02 R2  Rs     
2 2
1 M2
R  Rs 
 1 i s R2  Rs  1  M2   C02 
2


M2
The term  can be interpreted as an equivalent
i s R 2  Rs  1  M2  
2
C02
negative resistance Rn and thus the above equation modifies as

  
2
4R1R 2 i C0Rn 1  M2 The equation reveals that a high gain can be
G0 
M2 R1  R s  Rn 
2
obtained if Rn  R1  Rs. However if Rn is too
close to R1  Rs then a small change in the
parameters will results in a large change in
gain and oscillation will start. 149
Solving the voltage equations we get
4RgRL
G0 
R  RL  R s  R n 
2
g

If we split R1 into generator internal resistance R g and load resistance

, then power delivered to load is R I 2 and the transducer gain will RL
be
L s 2
2
G0  4R gRL Is V12

With the application of the pump power to the nonlinear capacitance,

frequency mixing occurs in the circuit and idler frequency is generated.
Now if the current with this idler frequency is permitted to exist, further
frequency mixing of the power at the pump frequency and idler
frequency occurs and results in the further generation of fs and
harmonics of fp and f i .
When the power generated through the frequency mixing exceeds the
power supplied at the signal frequency , diodes appear to have negative
resistance. 150
Negative resistance parametric amplifier with same input and output
frequency is not very stable.
The reason is that if the load resistance is not matched then reflection
will occur.
This reflected wave will return to the amplifier where they are further
amplified and fed at the input and output.
This makes the gain to be a sensitive function of the generator and load
impedances.
The stability of the amplifier, however, may be improved by the use of a
circulator.
The circulator makes the load resistance of the amplifier equal to the
characteristic impedance of the transmission line and hence the circuit
becomes independent of the generator and load resistance.

151
A typical parametric amplifier, using both transmission line and waveguide resonator, is
shown below

152
The bandwidth of a negative resistance parametric amplifier is relatively
small. After a detail analysis it can be shown that the maximum gain
bandwidth product can be expressed as
 s  M i
 2 G0  
 s max 2 s

The parametric amplifier can be made broad band by using broadband circuits at
the signal and idler frequency. Alternatively travelling wave parametric amplifiers can
be used.
In travelling wave parametric amplifiers the cavities are completely avoided.
Instead a waveguide is periodically loaded with varactor diodes.

153
Application of parametric amplifiers:

• The up-converter is a unilateral stable device with a wide bandwidth and

low gain. On the other hand negative resistance amplifier is a bilateral and
unstable device with low bandwidth and high gain.
• In general the up-converter has several advantages over negative
resistance parametric amplifier like: (i) positive input impedance, (ii) power
gain independent of changes of source impedance, (iii) unconditionally
stable and unilateral, (iv) typical 5% bandwidth and (v) no requirement of
circulator.
• At high frequencies, where the up-converter is impractical, negative
resistance amplifier with a circulator is generally used.
• Since in a radar system the frequency of operation is more than X –band,
the negative resistance amplifiers is preferred.

154
• On the other hand, if a low noise figure is required then the degenerate parametric
amplifier is used.
• For such amplifier the double sideband noise figure is less than the optimum noise
figure of up-converter and negative resistance parametric amplifier.

Limitations:

• The highest operating frequency of a parametric amplifier is restricted by the non-

availability of suitable pump sources while the gain is limited by the stability of the
pump source and time varying capacitance.
• The bandwidth of the parametric amplifier is generally small due to the presence of
tuned circuit.

155
 Read Diode
• A Read diode consist of a highly doped n region, a highly doped p region,
one intrinsic region and one very thin p region in the
 
n p ip
sequence.
• Out of the four regions, essentially two of them take part in the main
operation of the diode.
• The first region (p – region) is the avalanche region or high – field region.
• The second region is the intrinsic region or drift region (i – region), through
which the generated holes drifts towards the - region.

• Read diode is operated in the reverse bias mode and if the reverse
biasing is above the breakdown voltage then the space charge region
 
extends from the n  p junction upto i  p junction.

156
• The whole region between the n and
p junctions
i  p is also called the space
charge region.
• It may be noted that Read diode can also be p   nin which
i  n the avalanche
multiplication occurs in the thin n- region and the carrier drifts through to i –
region towards the - region.

Operation of Read Oscillator:

The transit time may be expressed as   L vd

The breakdown voltage at the n  p junction and avalanche multiplication

factor can be expressed as
 
1
M  1   V Vb 
2 n
Vb  n n s Emax b
2

n: 3 – 6 for Si and depends on the doping of n  p junction.
n :Resistivity n :Electron mobility  s :Semiconductor permittivity

Emax b :Maximum breakdown of electric field

V: Applied voltage 157

158
 • If the Read diode is mounted in a microwave resonant circuit and is
operated above the reverse breakdown voltage, an ac voltage at a given
frequency can be maintained in the circuit.
• The total field across the diode becomes equal to the sum of the ac and
DC field.
• Since the DC voltage alone is above reverse breakdown voltage
therefore for the complete positive half cycle of the ac voltage, the diode
will be biased above the breakdown voltage and avalanche multiplication

will occur at the n  p junction.
• Since avalanche multiplication grows exponentially, the carrier current
Io  t  , 
developed at the n  p junction, also grows exponentially
• During the negative half cycle, the polarity of the ac voltage is opposite to
the DC voltage and hence the total voltage across the diode drops below
the breakdown voltage. Thus avalanche multiplication stops and the
carrier current drops exponentially. 159
• It may be noted that the carrier current is the current at the
n  p junction only and is in the form of a pulse of very short duration.

• Since the maximum carriers is available at the end of the positive half cycle (due
to maximum ‘t”) the carrier current reaches its maximum value at the middle of
the ac cycle. Alternatively we can say that the carrier current is delayed by
relative to ac voltage.
• Now the generated holes are injected into the space charge region under the
influence of the electric field and travels towards the negative terminals.
• The drifting of the holes through the space charge region induces a
current in the external circuits
t
• The inducedIecurrent can be expressed as
• The constant current, Ie  t   Q circuit
, starts flowing in the external   Qv d when
L the carrier
Ie  t  junction and continues to flow through the space
current is generated in the
charge region during the complete transit time .
 160
• Thus Ie  t  is delayed by 900 relative to carrier current Io  t  and hence
1800 relative to the ac voltage.

• Alternatively, the external current is out of phase with the ac voltage and a
negative resistance occurs in the diode circuit.
• To achieve the negative resistance, the time period of the ac voltage therefore
must be equal to or the 2
oscillation frequency must be equal to
f   2 
1

• The external current is negligible during the positive half cycle of the ac voltage
and is fairly constant during the negative half cycle of the ac voltage. Thus the
external current is almost square wave in shape.
• Since the Read diode supplies ac energy, instead of storing energy, therefore it
has a negative Q as compared with the positive Q of the resonator. At the stable
operating point these two Q must be equal.

161
• The basic operating mechanism of a Read diode is “Impact Ionization” and “Transit
Time”. Therefore a Read diode is also known as IMPATT diode.

• A small signal analysis of a Read diode shows that the real part of the terminal
impedance of a Read diode can be expressed as

2L2  1  1  cos    

R  Rs    
v d  s A 1    r 2    
 

R s :Passive resistance of the inactive region A: Diode cross-section

2v dI0
   r 
s A
 :Derivative of the ionization coefficient with respect to the electric field and is a
sharply increasing factor of electric field. Physically it denoted the number of
ionizations per cm produced by a single carrier.

162
The equation reveals that the resistance will be negative for   r and the
peak value of negative resistance at .  

Power and efficiency of Read diode:

For a given frequency the maximum output power of a Read diode is limited by
the semiconductor materials and attainable impedance levels in the microwave
circuitry.
The maximum output power can be expressed as Pm  VmIm

where Vm and Im are the maximum voltage that can be applied across the
diode and maximum current respectively and can be expressed as
Vm  EmL Im  v d sEm A L

The above equations gives Pm  Em v d  s A

2

Now the capacitance across the space charge

region can be expressed as C  s A L 163
 Em2 v 2d
The above equations give Pm  E v d  s A  E v dCL
2
m
2
m
Pm f 
2

4Xc

The equation reveals that the maximum power decreases with increase in
frequency at a rate of 1 f2

The efficiency of an IMPATT diode can be expressed as

Pac VI  V I 
  a a   a  a 
PDC VdId  Vd   Id 

Now for a Read diode Va Vd  0.5 and Ia Id  2 

These gives   1  0.3

Therefore the theoretical efficiency of a Read diode is about 30%.

However because of high frequency skin effect, reverse saturation
current effect, ionization saturation effect and space charge effect the
efficiency of a practical Read diode is less than 30%.

164
Other IMPATT Diodes:

165
Semiconductor laser

166
 Semiconductor laser
– WHAT DOES LASER STAND FOR?
– LIGHT
– AMPLIFICATION BY
– STIMULATED
– EMISSION OF
– RADIATION

167
 Semiconductor laser
• Laser is a narrow beam of light of a single
wavelength (monochromatic) in which each
wave is in phase (coherent) with other near it.
• Laser apparatus is a device that produce an
intense concentrated, and highly parallel beam
of coherent light.

168
 Basic theory for laser
• Atom composed of a nucleus and electron cloud
• If an incident photon is energetic enough, it may be
absorbed by an atom, raising the latter to an excited
state.
• It was pointed out by Einstein in 1917 that an excited
atom can be revert to a lowest state via two
distinctive mechanisms:
– Spontaneous Emission and
– Stimulated Emission.

169
Characteristics of semiconductor lasers

• Capable of emitting high powers (e.g.

continuous wave ~ W).
• A relatively directional output beam
(compared with LEDs) permits high
coupling efficiency (~ 50 %) into single-
mode fibers.
• A relatively narrow spectral width of the
emitted light allows operation at high bit
rates (~ 10 Gb/s), as fiber dispersion
becomes less critical for such an optical
source.

170
 Laser diode
• A laser diode (LD) is a semiconductor
optical amplifier (SOA) that has an
optical feedback.
• A semiconductor optical amplifier is a
forward-biased heavily-doped p+-n+
junction fabricated from a direct-
bandgap semiconductor material.
• The injected current is sufficiently
large to provide optical gain.
• The optical feedback is usually
implemented by cleaving the
semiconductor material along its crystal
planes.
• The sharp refractive index difference
between the crystal (~3.5) and the
surrounding air causes the cleaved
surfaces to act as reflectors.

171
 Spontaneous emission
• Each electron can drop back spontaneously
to the ground state emitting photons.
• Emitted photons bear no incoherent. It varies
in phase from point to point and from
moment to moment.
• e.g. emission from tungsten lamp.

172
 Stimulated emission
• Each electron is triggered into emission by
the presence of electromagnetic radiation of
the proper frequency. This is known as
stimulated emission and it is a key to the
operation of laser.
• e.g. emission from Laser
Excited state

hν

Ground state

173
 Absorption
• Let us consider an atom that is initially in level
1 and interacts with an electromagnetic wave
of frequency n. The atom may now undergo a
transition to level 2, absorbing the required
energy from the incident radiation. This is
well-known phenomenon of absorption.
E2
hn=E2 – E1
E1

174
 Absorption
• According to Boltzmann's statistics, if a sample
has a large number of atoms, No, at temperature T,
then in thermal equilibrium the number of atoms
in energy states E1 and E2 are:
N1 = No e-E1/kT
N2 = No e-E2/kT
• If E1 < E2Then N1 > N2
• If E1 < E2and N1 < N2 This is called
"Population Inversion".

175
 E1

Absorption

E2

Stimulated Emission
Spontaneous Emission

176
 Population inversion
• Generally electrons tends to (ground state). What would
happen if a substantial percentage of atoms could somehow
be excited into an upper state leaving the lower state all
empty? This is known as a population inversion. An
incident of photon of proper frequency could then trigger an
avalanche of stimulated photon- all in phase (Laser).
• Consider a gas enclosed in a vessel containing free atoms
having a number of energy levels, at least one of which is
Metastable.
• By shining white light into this gas many atoms can be
raised, through resonance, from the ground state to excited
states.

177
 Population Inversion
• E1 = Ground state,
• E2 = Excited state (short life time ns),
• E3 = Metastable state (long life time from ms
to s).

178
 Population inversion
• To generate laser beam three processes must
be satisfied:-
– Population inversion.
– Stimulated emission.
– Pumping source.
COLLIMATED
BEAM
MEDIUM

MIRROR
PUMP

179
 Pumping Sources
• Optical Pumping: Suitable For Liquid And
Solid Laser Because They Have Wide
Absorption Bands.
• Electric Pumping: Suitable For Gas Laser
Because They Have Narrow Absorption Band.
• Chemical Reaction.

180
 Types of lasers
• According to the active material:
– solid-state, liquid, gas, excimer or semiconductor lasers.
• According to the wavelength:
– Infra-red (IR), Visible, Ultra-violet (UV) or X-ray Lasers.
• Solid-state lasers have lasing material distributed in a solid matrix (such as ruby
or Nd-YAG). Flash lamps are the most common power source. The Nd-YAG laser
emits infrared light at 1.064 nm.
• Semiconductor lasers, sometimes called diode lasers, are p-n junctions. Current is
the pump source. Applications: laser printers or CD players.
• Dye lasers use complex organic dyes, such as Rhodamine 6G, in liquid solution
or suspension as lasing media. They are tunable over a broad range of wavelengths.
• Gas lasers are pumped by current. Helium- Neon (He-Ne) lasers in the visible
and IR. Argon lasers in the visible and UV. CO2 lasers emit light in the far-infrared
(10.6 mm), and are used for cutting hard materials.
• Excimer lasers: (from the terms excited and dimers) use reactive gases, such as
chlorine and fluorine, mixed with inert gases such as argon, krypton, or xenon.
When electrically stimulated, a pseudo molecule (dimer) is produced. Excimers
laser in the UV.

181
Ruby Laser

182
 Solid-state Laser
• Example: Ruby Laser
• Operation wavelength: 694.3 nm (IR)
• 3 level system: absorbs green/blue
• Gain Medium: crystal of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) with
small part of atoms of aluminum is replaced with Cr3+ ions.
• Pump source: flash lamp
• The ends of ruby rod serve as laser mirrors.

183
Ruby Laser

184
 How Ruby laser works?
• 1. High-voltage electricity causes the quartz
flash tube to emit an intense burst of light,
exciting some of Cr3+ in the ruby crystal to
higher energy levels.

185
 How Ruby laser works?
• 2. At a specific energy level, some Cr3+ emit photons.
At first the photons are emitted in all directions.
Photons from one Cr3+ stimulate emission of photons
from other Cr3+ and the light intensity is rapidly
amplified.

186
 How Ruby laser works?
• 3. Mirrors at each end reflect the photons back and
forth, continuing this process of stimulated emission
and amplification

187
 How Ruby laser works?
• 4. The photons leave through the partially silvered
mirror at one end. This is laser light.

188
 High and Low Level Lasers
• High Level Lasers
–Surgical Lasers
–Hard Lasers
–Thermal
–Energy (3000-10000) mW
• Low Level Lasers
–Medical Lasers
–Soft Lasers
–Subthermal
–Energy (1-500) mW
–Therapeutic (Cold) lasers produce maximum output of 90
mW or less (600-1000) nm light
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 Laser Parameters
• Wavelength
– Nanometers (nm)
– Longer wavelength (lower frequency) = greater penetration
– Not fully determined
– Wavelength is affected by power
• Output power
– Watts or milliwatts (W or mW)
– Important in categorizing laser for safety
• Average power
– Knowing average power is important in determining dosage with pulsed laser
– If laser is continuous – average power = peak output power
– If laser is pulsed, then average power is equal to peak output power X duty cycle.
• Intensity
– Power Density (intensity)
– W or mW/ cm2
– Takes into consideration – actual beam diameter If light spread over lager area – lower power
density
– Beam diameter determines power density

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 Laser Parameters
• Dosage (D)
• Amount of energy applied per unit area
• Measured in Joules/square cm (J/cm2)
– Joule – unit of energy
– 1 Joule = 1 W/sec
• Dosage is dependent on:
–Output of laser in mW.
– Time of exposure in seconds.
– Beam surface area of laser in cm2

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 Laser Treatment & Diagnostics
• Treatment cover everything from the ablation
of tissue using high power lasers to
photochemical reaction obtained with a weak
laser.
• Diagnostics cover the recording of
fluorescence after excitation at a suitable
wavelength and measuring optical parameters.

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Laser Tissue Interaction

193
 What Does Laser Do?
• Laser light waves penetrate the skin with no heating effect, no
damage to skin & no sideeffects.
• Laser light directs biostimulative light energy to the body’s cells
which convert into chemical energy to promote natural healing &
pain relief.
• Stimulation of wound healing
– Promotes faster wound healing/clotformation
–Helps generate new & healthy cells & tissue
• Increase collagen production
–Develops collagen & muscle tissue
• Increase macrophage activity
– Stimulates immune system
• Alter nerve conduction velocity
– Stimulates nerve function

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 What Does Laser Do?
• Improved blood circulation & vasodilation
– Increases blood supply
• Increases ATP production
• Analgesic effect
– Relieves acute/chronic pain
• Anti-inflammatory & anti-edematous effects
– Reduces inflammation

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 Tissue & Cellular Response
• Magnitude of tissue’s reaction are based on
physical characteristics of:
–Output wavelength/frequency
–Density of power
–Duration of treatment
– Vascularity of target tissues

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 Direct and indirect laser effects
• Direct effect - occurs from
– absorption of photons
• Indirect effect – produced by
– chemical events caused by
– interaction of photons emitted from
– laser and the tissues

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 LASER Regulation
 Lasers are classified according to the hazard;
 Class 1 and 1M (magnifier) lasers are considered safe
 Class 2 and 2M (magnifier)
- emit visible light at higher levels than Class 1,
- eye protection is provided
- can be hazardous if the beam is viewed directly with optical instruments
 Class 3R (Restricted) Laser
- produce visible and invisible light that are hazardous under direct viewing
conditions
 Class 3B lasers
- produce visible or invisible light that is hazardous under direct viewing
conditions
- they are powerful enough to cause eye damage in a time shorter
- Laser products with power output near the upper range of Class 3B may
also cause skin burns
 Class 4 lasers
- high power devices capable of causing both eye and skin burns,
- heir diffuse reflections may also be hazardous
- the beam may constitute a fire hazard
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