Investigation of Contact Edge Effects in the Channel of Planar Gunn Diodes

A. Mindil; G. M. Dunn; A. Khalid; C. H. Oxley

doi:10.1109/TED.2019.2951301

Investigation of Contact Edge Effects in the Channel of Planar Gunn Diodes

A. Mindil^*, G. M. Dunn, A. Khalid, C. H. Oxley

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The effect of the edge of the channel on the operation of planar Gunn diodes has been examined using Monte Carlo simulations. High fields at the corner of the anode contact are known to cause impact ionization and consequent electroluminescence, but our simulations show that the Gunn domains are attracted to these corners, perturbing the formation of the domains, which can lead to chaotic dynamics within the rest of the channel leading to uneven heating and reduced RF output power. We show how novel shaping of the electrical contacts at the ends of the channel reduces the attraction and restores the domain wavefronts for good device operation.

Original language	English
Article number	8913625
Pages (from-to)	53-56
Number of pages	4
Journal	IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices
Volume	67
Issue number	1
Early online date	26 Nov 2019
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/TED.2019.2951301
Publication status	Published - Jan 2020

Bibliographical note

Manuscript received September 12, 2019; revised October 24, 2019; accepted October 30, 2019. Date of publication November 26, 2019; date of current version December 30, 2019.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank the University of Aberdeen
for providing the necessary support.

Keywords

Anodes
Cathodes
Contacts
Shape
Radio frequency
Distortion
Monte Carlo methods
Channel edge
GaAs
Monte Carlo
planar Gunn diode

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Cite this

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title = "Investigation of Contact Edge Effects in the Channel of Planar Gunn Diodes",

abstract = "The effect of the edge of the channel on the operation of planar Gunn diodes has been examined using Monte Carlo simulations. High fields at the corner of the anode contact are known to cause impact ionization and consequent electroluminescence, but our simulations show that the Gunn domains are attracted to these corners, perturbing the formation of the domains, which can lead to chaotic dynamics within the rest of the channel leading to uneven heating and reduced RF output power. We show how novel shaping of the electrical contacts at the ends of the channel reduces the attraction and restores the domain wavefronts for good device operation.",

keywords = "Anodes, Cathodes, Contacts, Shape, Radio frequency, Distortion, Monte Carlo methods, Channel edge, GaAs, Monte Carlo, planar Gunn diode",

author = "A. Mindil and Dunn, {G. M.} and A. Khalid and Oxley, {C. H.}",

note = "Manuscript received September 12, 2019; revised October 24, 2019; accepted October 30, 2019. Date of publication November 26, 2019; date of current version December 30, 2019. ACKNOWLEDGMENT The authors would like to thank the University of Aberdeen for providing the necessary support.",

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AU - Khalid, A.

AU - Oxley, C. H.

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KW - Anodes

KW - Cathodes

KW - Contacts

KW - Shape

KW - Radio frequency

KW - Distortion

KW - Monte Carlo methods

KW - Channel edge

KW - GaAs

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JF - IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices

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Investigation of Contact Edge Effects in the Channel of Planar Gunn Diodes

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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