Passive and Active

Microwave Devices

Dr. H. Rahaman, Associate Professor

Department of Electronics and Communication, BKBIET Pilani
 Objective

 Microwave passive components.

 Microwave active components.
 Semiconductor devices.
 Microwave/ Vacuum Tubes.
 Active microwave devices
 Active devices include diodes, transistors, and electron tubes.
 These devices can be used for signal detection, mixing, amplification,
frequency multiplication and switching and as sources of rf and
microwave signals.

Diode:
 A diode is a two terminal semiconductor device having a nonlinear V –
I relationship.
 This non-linearity can be exploited for various functions:– signal
detection, demodulation, frequency multiplication and oscillation etc.
 We will discuss on two diodes: Schottky diode and Crystal diode.
 Diode
Classical semiconductor diode: Si/ Ge
 A bipolar device: Current conduction is due to both minority and
majority carriers.
 It has semiconductor – semiconductor junction.
 Large forward voltage drop: 0.7 eV for Si, 0.3 for Ge.
 Available at high voltage rating
 Suitable for low frequency application.
 Slow turn on and turn off process.
 Semiconductor diode or PN junction diode is a two terminal device
that allows the current to flow in one direction and blocks the flow of
current in another direction.
 Schottky Diode
 A unipolar device: Current conduction is due to majority carriers.
 It has semiconductor – metal junction: P type region of the PN type is
replaced by metal anode of Au, Ag, Pt, W, Moly or Cr.
 Low forward voltage drop: < 0.3 V
 Available at low voltage rating: Maximum reverse voltage is 200V.
 Suitable for high frequency application.
 Fast turn on and turn off process.
 When the diode is manufactured, a small junction potential of about
0.15 V to 0.13 V, depending on the metal, occurs between the P-
type anode and N doped Si cathode. This junction potential is
called schottky barrier.
 Due to small junction potential of the schottky diode, it is suitable for
rf applications such as rf mixer, modulator, demodulator as well as
fast switching.
Schottky Diode
 Crystal Diode
 A unipolar device: Current conduction is due to majority carriers.
 Suitable for high frequency application.
 Fast turn on and turn off process.
 A crystal diode is also called as Cat’s whisker diode or point
contact diode. A thin spiral wire is pressed on N type Si wafer. The
diameter of the tungsten wire is 0.08 mm and the Si wafer is 16mm2.
 It has semiconductor–metal junction: A fine beryllium-copper,
bronze-phosphor or tungsten wire called as Cat whisker is pressed
against the Si- crystal.
 In forward bias, the resistance of the point contact diode is high
compared to normal PN junction diode.
 In reverse bias, the flow of the current is dependent of the voltage
applied unlike that in the case of PN junction diode.
 The capacitance between the cat whisker and the Si crystal is less
compared to the normal junction diode. The reactance is high at low
frequency and low at high frequency.
Crystal Diode
 Equivalent circuit model of Diode
Microwave detector diodes can be classified into two categories
Crystal diode/ point contact diode
Schottky diode
Cc – Case Capacitance
Ls – lead inductance (0.05–1 nH for Schottky,
0.4–0.9 nH for point diode)
Rs – Resistance of Si Substrate (4–30 Ω for
Schottky, 4–6 Ω for point diode)
Cj – Barrier Capacitance (0.14–1.6 pF for
Schottky, 0.3–0.5 pF for point diode)
Rj – Metallic junction resistance
V–I Characteristics:
The diode is used to detect microwave signal. The forward V-I
characteristics is approximately parabolic
𝑣
𝑖 = 𝐼0 𝑒 𝜂𝑉𝑇 −1
 Diode Detector
𝑣
𝑖 = 𝐼0 𝑒 𝜂𝑉𝑇 −1
𝑣 = 𝑉𝐶𝑜𝑠𝜔𝑡, η is constant = 1.1 for Schottky diode, 1.4 point contact
diode, VT = Thermal voltage = 26 mV for room temperature.
The series expansion of the current is given by
2
𝑣 1 𝑣
𝑖 = 𝐼0 𝐶𝑜𝑠𝜔𝑡 + 2 𝐶𝑜𝑠 2 𝑤𝑡
𝜂𝑉𝑇 𝜂𝑉𝑇

2
𝑣 1 𝑣
𝑖 = 𝐼0 𝐶𝑜𝑠𝜔𝑡 + 2 1 + 𝐶𝑜𝑠2𝜔𝑡
𝜂𝑉𝑇 𝜂𝑉𝑇

The direct current output of the diode is directly proportional to the square
of the amplitude of voltage. It means the current is proportional to the
power. This is the reason why these diodes are called square law detector.

If the incident power is very large (say more than 10 watt), the VI
characteristic becomes more linear. Therefore, the power needs to
be attenuated for operation in the square law region.
 Diode Detector
The diode is mounted in a waveguide
or a coaxial line with matching
elements so that the VSWR < 1.3 (or
1.5) and the microwave power is
absorbed without much reflection.

Waveguide detector
Non-tunable

Waveguide detector
Tunable

The output impedance of the detector circuit is designed for either high
value (50 – 200 Ω) or low (2.5 – 10 Ω). The detector circuit is matched
using short circuit stub.
 Diode Mixer
At frequencies above 1 GHz, a silicon crystal diode can be used satisfactorily
as mixer to produce lower frequencies IF signal. It has low conversion loss,
low noise, and ability to stand momentary overloads. Single diode mixers are
useful where signal levels are relatively large compared to noise.

Coaxial diode mixer

In most communication application, balanced mixers are employed using

two or four diodes in a hybrid ring or a magic T- configuration.
 PIN Diode
A PIN diode consists of a high resistivity intrinsic semiconductor layer
between two high doped p+ and n+ Si layer. The parasitic inductance L
is typically less than 1 nH. The forward bias resistance, Rs, is due to
bulk semiconductor and contact resistance, typically, 1 to 4 Ω. In reverse
bias, the impedance, Rr, is due to the junction capacitance rather than very
large resistance due to wider intrinsic layer.

Applications: Equivalent circuit

High voltage rectifier
Rf switch, electronic switch
Photo detector
Attenuators
 PIN Diode Switch
A PIN diode can be used as a series or shunt configuration to form rf switch
as shown in the diagram. In reverse bias, Rr is very large and CT is very
small (0.02-2 pF). The impedance due to the capacitance plays the
dominant role. In forward bias, Rr becomes very small, in fact Rr
<< 1/(ωCT), so that Rf (0.1 – 2 Ω) = Rr + Rs plays the dominant role.
Therefore, a low capacitive impedance is presented to the microwave
signal during the reverse bias and a very low resistance is presented to the
signal during the forward bias.

Shunt configuration Series configuration

Shunt Configuration
PIN Diode
Reverse bias produces high impedance due to which transmission is ON.
Forward bias produces low impedance due to which transmission is OFF.
Series Configuration
The transmission is ON for forward bias and OFF for reverse bias.
Attenuator
By varying the level of bias on the PIN diode, it is possible to vary the level
of attenuation. In this manner, the circuit can be used as a very simple
rf attenuator. It can be defined by insertion loss, α, ratio of incident power
to
that of the load 𝐼𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑉0 𝐼
power. 𝛼= =
𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑉𝐿 𝐼

𝛼 (dB)
𝛼 (dB)
Series configuration Shunt configuration
The diode impedance in reverse
and forward bias, respectively is
given as
 Microwave Transistors
The invention of the transistor by William Shockley and his co-workers
at Bell Laboratory in 1948 had a revolutionary impact on microwaves.
Since then transistors and related semiconductor devices have replaced
vacuum tubes for lower power sources. Microwave power transistor
technology has advanced significantly.
The majority of bipolar transistors are fabricated from Si that dominate the
frequency range from UHF to S band (up to 3 GHz). The technology using
GaAs material produces useful power beyond 22 GHz.
Physical Structure
All microwave transistors are planar in form and almost all are of silicon n-
p-n type. The surface geometries are characterized as follows

Interdigitated Overlay Matrix

 Microwave Transistors
The n-p-n structure is preferred for high frequency applications because the
electron mobility (1500 cm2/V.s) is much higher than the hole
mobility (450 cm2/V.s).
There are many ways of fabricating a transistor, diffusion and ion
implantation are generally used.

Typical carrier densities of

an n-p-n densities

Motility, μ:
Electron: 1500 cm2/V.s
Hole: 450 cm2/V.s
Typical dimensions:
Base width: 10-7 m (sub- micrometers)
Emitter width: 10-6 m (few
micrometers)
Collector width: 10-6 m (2-5 times the emitter width)
Cross section: 10-4 m (100s to micrometers square)
 Microwave Transistors
Two schematic cross-sectional diagrams of bipolar junction transistors are
given

Discrete planar Integrated chip type

Bipolar Transistor Configurations

There are three different configurations for both n-p-n and p-n-p types:
Common base (CB), common emitter (CE) and common collector (CC)
depending on the bias voltage polarities.
 Bipolar Transistor Configuration
Common Base
The emitter (input circuit) and collector (output circuit) terminals are
common to the base. This configuration is usually used in amplifier
applications. Its input voltage VEB and output current IC can be expressed in
terms of the output voltage VCB input current IE.

VEB = fn (VCB, IE), IC = fn (VCB, IE)

 Bipolar Transistor Configuration
Common emitter
Most transistors have their base the common terminal to both input and
output. This configuration is commonly used as a switch or pulse transistor
amplifier. Its input voltage VBE and output current IC can be expressed in
terms of the output voltage VCE input current IB.

VBE = fn (VCE, IB), IC = fn (VCE, IB)

 Bipolar Transistor Configuration
Common collector
The output voltage of the load is taken from the emitter terminal instead of
the collector as in the cases of common base or common emitter
configuration. The different between common emitter and common
collector configuration is that the common collector has no voltage gain.
 Bipolar Transistor I-V characteristics
Common base configuration
There are three regions for the I-V characteristics of an n-p-n bipolar
transistor.
Active region: In this region, the emitter junction is forward biased and
the collector junction is reverse biased. The collector current depends on
the emitter current. When the emitter current is zero, the collector
current is equal to the saturation current Ico.
Saturation region: In this region, both the emitter and collector junctions
are forward biased.
Cutoff region: In this region, both the emitter and collector junctions are
reverse biased.

VEB VEB VEB

 Bipolar Transistor I-V characteristics

Amplification phenomena
Bipolar transistors are used for signal amplification. These amplification
can be described for common base and common emitter configuration.
In common base n-p-n transistor, the ratio of output current to input
current is known as current gain, α or h .

Where Ico collector junction reverse saturation current with zero emiiter current.
 Bipolar Transistor Amplification
Typical values of the current gain α in common base configuration is
between 0.90 and 0.995.
In common emitter n-p-n transistor, the ratio of output current to input
base current is known as current gain, β or hfe.

Using In active mode

Limitations: Microwave transistors are limited on their frequency and output

power:
1. There is a maximum possible velocity of carriers, called saturated drift velocity,
on the order of 6 X 106 cm/s for electrons and holes in both, Si and Ge.
2. The maximum electric field that can be sustained without dielectric breakdown is
105 V/cm in Ge and 2 X 105 V/cm in Si.
3. The maximum current is limited by the base width.
 Field Effect Transistor
After the invention of transistor in 1948 by Shockley and his coworkers,
they proposed a new type of field effect transistor (FET) in which the
conductivity of a semiconductor layer is modulated by a transverse electric
field. Important properties are-

Field effect transistors: Junction field effect transistor (JFET), Metal

semiconductor field effect transistor (MESFET), High electron
mobility transistor (HEMT), Metal oxide semiconductor field effect
transistor (MOSFET).
 Junction Field Effect Transistor
The n type material is sandwiched between two highly doped layers of p
type material, P+. This type of device is called an n-channel JFET. The
p regions are referred as gates. The n channel is joined by metallic contacts
at the ends. As per the direction of the basing signal as shown below, the
left hand contact is referred to as the source, whereas the right hand
contact is
referred to as the drain. The direction of the drain current Id is from the
drain to the source.
 Principle operation of JFET
Since electrons have higher mobility than holes, the n-channel JFET provides
higher conductivity and higher speed and is preferred in most applications.
Under normal condition, gate voltage (Vg = 0), the semiconductor acts as a simple
resistor, the drain current, Id, increases linearly with the drain voltage, Vd.
Due to reverse bias Vg across the p-n gate junction, free electrons are
depleted from the channel. As Vd increases, a point is reached where all free
electrons are completely depleted in the region due to the applied Vg. This
condition is called pinch off, where Id is nearly constant. As the reverse bias
voltage increases, the space charge regions are extended into the channel and
depletes the electrons severely.

I-V characteristics of a
typical JFET
 Principle operation of JFET
There are few regions for operation:
Pinch off voltage: It is that reverse gate voltage that removes all free charge from
the channel.
Linear region: In linear region, Id is proportional to Vd.
Saturation region: At the pinch off voltage, the drain current becomes saturated.
Breakdown voltage: As the drain voltage increases for a constant gate voltage,
a point is reached where avalanche breakdown across the gate junction takes
place and the current Id increases sharply.

I-V characteristics of a
typical JFET
 Metal Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor

If the field effect transistor is constructed with a metal

semiconductor schottky barrier diode, the device is called a metal
semiconductor field effect transistor (MESFET). The material is typically
GaAs.
GaAs MESFETs have the capability of amplifying small signals upto the
frequency range of X band with low noise figure.
GaAs MESFETs have higher electron mobility, higher electric field,
higher electron saturation drift velocity than silicon devices. Therefore, its
output power is also large.
In addition, it has low noise figure accounted for high electron mobility.
These type of transistors are very commonly used in microwave integrated
circuit for high power, low noise and broadband amplifier.
GaAs MESFETs are developed by epitaxial process or ion implantation
method.
 MESFET principle operation
The substrate is doped with chromium (Cr) to make a very high resistivity
substrate (108 ohm cm), and is commonly called the semi-insulator GaAs
substrate. On this substrate, a thin layer of lightly doped n layer is grown.
In many cases, a high resistivity layer, called buffer layer is grown
between the n-type layer and the substrate. The reason for using GaAs
rather than Si is that the GaAs has higher electron mobility and can
operate at higher temperature and power.

The substrate thickness is about 100 μm.

The n-channel layer (0.15 to 0.35 μm
thick) has doping concentration of 8 X
1022 to 2 X 1023 per m3.
The electron mobility is in the range of
3000 and 4500 cm2/V.s.
Buffer layer (3 μm thick) has doping
concentration of 1021 and 1022.
 GaAs MESFET

Drain current Id versus the

voltage Vds between the source
and drain with the gate voltage
Vg is shown.

Maximum frequency of oscillation is given by

L is the gate length, typically, 5μm

This frequency depends on the transit time of
the electrons

The v is the saturation drift velocity, 2 X 107 cm/s

s
for GaAs at an electric field of 3 kV/cm and 8 X 106
cm/s for Si at an electric field of 15 kV/cm.
 High Electron Mobility Transistor
The basic structure of a HEMT structure is shown below. An
undoped GaAs layer and a doped n-type AlGaAs layer are successively
grown on a semi insulating GaAs substrate. A two dimensional electron
gas is created between the undoped and n type layers. A buffer layer
is sandwiched between the undoped GaAs layer and the semi-insulator
substrate.

The electron mobility is about 8000 cm2/V.s at room temperature.

The mobility increases to 2.5 X 106 cm2/V.s at 4.50K. HEMT amplifiers
for 40 to 70 GHz have been constructed till now.
 HEMT Transistor
The switching delay time of GaAs MESFET is two to three times longer
than that of HEMT. The reported delay time is about 50 ps
The ultimate speed capability can be as large as more than 100
GHz. HEMTs are promising device for high speed, very large scale
integration (VLSI) with low dissipation of about 100 μW. Therefore,
HEMTs are promising devices for supercomputers and space
communications.
 Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor
The basic structure belongs to n channel MOSFET. The MOSFET is a
four terminal device with both n-channel and p-channel types. The n-
channel consists of a slightly doped p type semiconductor substrate into
which two highly doped n+ sections are diffused. These n+ sections are
source and
drain separated by about 0.5 μm. A thin layer of insulating SiO2 is grown
over the surface of the structure.
 MOSFET Working
There are basically two modes of operation for n channel MOSFETs.
1. The n-channel enhancement mode (OFF mode): When the gate voltage is
zero, the channel does not conduct. A positive voltage must be applied to the
gate to form n channel conduction to turn the device ON. The drain
current is enhanced by the positive voltage.
2. The n-channel depletion mode (ON mode): An n channel exist even at zero
bias voltage. A negative gate voltage must be applied to deplete the carriers in
the channel. Then the channel conduction is reduced and the device is turn
OFF.
3. Similar enhancement and depletion modes can be made for p-channel
MOSFET.

Enhancement mode Depletion mode

 MOSFET Working

I-V characteristics of a n-channel MOSFET

The use of metal oxide eliminates the isolation in MOS transistors. As a result,
a much greater packing density on a semiconductor chip is possible than that
with BJTs. The MOSFETs can be further divided into NMOS and CMOS types.
They have low power dissipation and simpler to fabricate than BJTs. Therefore,
NMOS, CMOS devices are very useful in high density integrated circuits and
dominates the IC market.
 Gunn Diode
Gunn diodes are negative resistance devices which are normally used as
low power oscillator at microwave frequencies. These are also called
transferred electron devices (TEDs).
Transistors operate with either junctions or gates, but TEDs are bulk
devices without any junctions or gates.
Transistors are fabricated from elemental semiconductors like Si or
Ge, whereas TEDs are fabricated from compound semiconductors
such as Gallium Arsenide (GaAs), Indium Phosphide (InP) or Cadmium
Telluride (CdTe), GaN, CdS, and InAs etc. These compound
semiconductors have two closely spaced energy valleys in the conduction
band.
Transistors operate with warm electrons whose energy is close to
room temperature (0.026 eV) whereas TEDs work with hot electrons
whose energy is much greater than room temperature.
Gunn diode was discovered by J. B. Gunn in 1963.
 Gunn Diode
Gunn diode is a two terminal device where a n-type layer, called active
layer, is sandwiched between two heavily doped layer, n+ type.

Layer structure symbol

E < Eth E > Eth

When a dc voltage is applied across the semiconductor material, an electric
field is developed. At low E field, most of the electrons are located in the
lower energy valley. At high E field, most of the electrons will
be transferred into high energy.
 Gunn Diode
Construction

Width of the active layer is 25 μm for 4.5 GHz and

10 μm for 10 GHz.
The effective mass of electrons at higher energy
valley is higher and the electron mobility is lower
than the electrons of lower energy valley.
Since conductivity is proportional to the
mobility, the conductivity and hence the current
decreases with increasing E field or voltage. The
material then act as negative resistance that
can be used for microwave oscillator.
 Gunn Diode
High field domain: Decrease in drift velocity with increasing electric field
lead to the formation of a high field domain for microwave generation and
amplification.
When the applied voltage is above the
threshold value, about 3000 V/cm times the
GaAs diode thickness, a high field domain is
formed near the cathode and reduces the electric
field in the rest of the material. This causes the
current to drops to about two thirds of its
maximum value. The situation is due to the
application of high voltage.

The high field domain drifts across the channel and

disappears at the anode. The drift velocity of the
domain decreases and the GaAs exhibits a negative
resistance.
 Gunn Diode Working
There exist an excess (or accumulation) of negative
charges at the domain A and the whole process is
a travelling space charge accumulation.
An electric field is created due to the high
applied voltage across the specimen. The field at
the left of domain A is lower than the right. It means if
the diode is biased by EA on the J-E curve, the current
flowing into domain A is greater than the current
flowing out of the domain, thereby increasing
excess negative space charge at A. As a result, the
electric field to the left of the domain becomes lower
than it was before, the field to the right becomes
greater than it was before. This process continues till
low and high fields reach value outside the
differential negative resistance and settles at points 1
and 2 where the currents are equal.
A dipole is formed due to positive and negative
space charge separated by a small distance. The field
in the dipole is greater than either side of the
dipole. The dipole move towards the anode and
disappear. A new dipole starts again at the cathode.
 Gunn Diode Operation modes
There are various modes of operation depending on the material parameters and
operating conditions:
1. Transit mode: This mode is defined in the region where the product
frequency times length is 107 cm/s and the product doping time the length is
greater than 1012/cm2. The oscillation period is equal to the transit time period.

2. Delayed time mode: The product frequency times length is between 106 to 107
cm/s. Here, the oscillation period is greater than the transit time.
3. Quenched mode: The product frequency times length is greater 107 cm/s and the
field drops below the sustaining field during the negative half cycle.
4. Limited space accumulation (LSA) mode: The product frequency times length
is greater 107 cm/s. The domains do not have sufficient time for formation.
The domains are maintained during the negative resistance of the voltage
cycle. the product doping time the length is equal to 1012/cm2 . The drift
velocity at lower and upper limits are:
 Gunn Diode LSA modes

In LSA mode, the diode is placed in a resonator where the resonating period is
less than the domain growth time.
The Gunn diode is biased several times the threshold voltage.
 Avalanche Transit Time Devices
The avalanche diode oscillator uses carrier impact ionization and drift in the
high field region of a semiconductor under reverse bias condition to produce a
supply of holes and electrons at microwave frequencies. There are two distinct
modes of avalanche oscillator-
IMPATT mode – Impact ionization Avalanche Transit Time
TRAPATT mode – Trapped plasma Avalanche Trigger
Transit
The original idea was proposed by Read, called Read diode or n+-p-i-p+ / p+-n-i-
n+ diode. Then, two distinct modes of avalanche oscillator was found.
IMPATT diode has configuration p+-n-n+ or p+-i-n+ . Frequencies up to as high
as 100 GHz can be obtained using silicon diodes.
 Avalanche Transit Time Devices
Read diode with a large reverse bias
voltage is shown here with dc electric
field distribution and doping profile.
Avalanche multiplication occurs at thin
p region. This region is called high
field region or the avalanche region. The
other region is i region through
which the generated holes must drift in
moving to p+ contact. This region is
called the intrinsic region or drift
region. The space at n+p junction and
ip+ junction is called the space charge
region.
Read diode oscillator in reverse bias
is mounted in a microwave cavity.
The impedance of the cavity is matched
with the impedance of the diode to
form a resonant circuit. The device
delivers power from the dc bias to the
oscillator.
 Avalanche Transit Time Devices
An ac voltage is maintained for a
given frequency and therefore, the
total field is the sum of dc and ac
fields.
The total field cause breakdown at
n+p junction during the positive half
of ac voltage cycle. The carrier current
(i.e., the hole current), Io(t), generated
at the junction grows exponentially
like avalanche multiplication for the
time during the positive cycle. During
the negative cycle, the Io(t) decays
exponentially to a steady state value.
Io(t) is in the form of pulse with peak
at the pi junction and at the middle of
the ac voltage cycle.
 Avalanche Transit Time Devices
Due to the electric field the holes are drifted towards the negative terminal. As the
holes traverse the drift space, they induce a current Ie(t) in the external circuit.

The cavity should be tuned at a resonant frequency.

Taking vd = 107 cm/s for Si, the operating frequency for read diode with L (or i
region) of 2.5 µm is 20 GHz.
 Avalanche Transit Time Devices
Three typical Si IMPATT diode is shown here. The read diode is the
basic type in IMPATT diode family. The principle operation these
devices is similar to the mechanism described for the read diode.
 IMPATT Diode
Power output and efficiency:
The output power of a single diode is limited by the semiconductor material
at a given frequency. The maximum voltage applied across the diode is
given by 𝑉 =𝐸 𝐿
𝑚 𝑚
Where L is the drift region and Em is the maximum electric field that can be
applied. The maximum current is given by

The upper limit of the power input is

The efficiency of the IMPATT diode is

For ideal diode, the ratio of ac voltage to applied dc voltage is 0.5 and the
ratio of ac current to dc current is about 2/π. Then, the efficiency is 1/ π or
more than 30 %.
 Summary

 Microwave diodes: Schottky diode, Crystal diode.

 Microwave Transistors: BJT, FET: JFET,
MESFET, HEMT, MOSFET.
 Microwave oscillator diode: Gunn diode- two energy
valleys, high field domain, and principle mechanism.
 Microwave oscillator diode: IMPATT diode- Si doping,
avalanche mechanism, and principle mechanism.
Thank you !