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08 Tunnel Diodes PDF
08 Tunnel Diodes PDF
E CSiO E CSiO
2 2
Si SiO2 Si Si SiO2 Si
2
…continued…Concept of Electron Tunneling
• For thick barrier, both Newtonian and Quantum mechanics say that the
electrons cannot cross the barrier.
• It can only pass the barrier if it has more energy than the barrier height.
E=EB
Electron with energy less than
EB cannot pass the barrier
E=0
Si SiO2 Si 3
…continued…Concept of Electron Tunneling
• For thin barrier, Newtonian mechanics still says that the electrons cannot
cross the barrier.
• However, Quantum mechanics says that the electron wave nature will allow
it to tunnel through the barrier.
Tunneling is caused by
E=EB the wave nature of E=EB
electron
E=0
Si SiO2 Si Si SiO2 Si
4
Newtonian Mechanics Quantum Mechanics
Electron Tunneling in p-n junction
• 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
High doping
Thick depletion layer
Thin depletion layer
EC
EC
EV EV
p n p n 5
Tunnel Diode Operation
• 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.
EC
EF
EV
6
…continued…Operation of a 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
EC
EV
Direct tunneling current starts growing 7
…continued…Tunnel Diode Operation
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
EC
EV
Maximum Direct tunneling current 8
…continued…Tunnel Diode Operation
EC
EV
Direct tunneling current decreases 9
…continued…Tunnel Diode Operation
EC
EV
Step 6: With further voltage increase, the tunnel diode I-V characteristic is
similar to that of a regular p-n diode.
EC
EV
11
…continued…Operation of a 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.
EC
EV
12
Part II
Circuits with the Tunnel Diodes
I
R
TD
NDR region V
Typical Tunnel Diode (TD) I-V characteristic has two distinct features:
(1) it is STRONGLY non-linear (compare to the resistor I-V).
Current - Voltage relationships for TDs cannot be described using the Ohm’s law
(2) it has a negative differential resistance (NDR) region
13
Tunnel Diode I-V
Iv
⎡⎛ V ⎞ ⎤
I diode ≈ I s exp ⎢⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ − 1⎥
⎣⎝ ηVth
Vv
⎠ ⎦
Vp
Is saturation current, η is the
ideality factor and Vth = kT/q
14
Tunnel Diode I-V
• The tunnel current,
V ⎡ ⎛V⎞ ⎤
m
peak
I tun = exp ⎢− ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ ⎥ valley
R0 ⎢⎣ ⎝ V0 ⎠ ⎥⎦
⎛1+ m ⎞ Vv
exp ⎜ ⎟
| Rd max | = R0 ⎝ m ⎠
Vp
m
The peak voltage Vp:
1
⎛1⎞ m
V p = ⎜ ⎟ V0
⎝m⎠ 15
Tunnel Diode I-V
Iv
Iexcess is an additional tunneling
current related to parasitic
Vv
tunneling via impurities.
Vp
This current usually determines the
minimum (valley) current, Iv
Rv and Vex are the empirical
parameters; in high-quality diodes,
Rv >> R0. Vex = 1…..5 V
16
NDR of the Tunnel Diode
17
Energy dissipation in resistors and Energy
generation in Negative Resistors
R
+
VS
-
I R I R ΔI
Rd = cot (α )
I
α
V V V
ΔV
For linear (“Ohmic”) components, R = Rd.
For many semiconductor devices, R ≠ Rd:
I I
α α I α3
α2
I
I Rd << R α1
Rd < R
V V Rd2 < 0 V
V V
Diode Zener Diode TD 19
(forward bias) (reverse bias)
Transients in Negative Differential Resistance
Circuits
R
C
VS
R>0
R<0
t t
20
Tunnel Diode as a microwave oscillator
Tunnel diode Cd Microwave cavity
(LC- resonance circuit)
Rd
~ R
RL
us
0.6
0.4
0.2
Rd
R LC 0
~ RL 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
us -0.2
-0.4
-0.6 Rd >0 or
-0.8 Rd<0 and RL > |Rd|
The resonant circuit -1
the TD-oscillator is 4
3
limited by the 2
characteristic tunneling 1
time: 0
-2
Tunneling time in TDs is -3
extremely small: << 1 ps -4
FMAX > 100 GHz -5
Rd<0 and RL < |Rd|
-6
22
Tunnel Diode microwave oscillators
Vs = Vd + IR Vd
Vd Vs
⇒I=− +
R R
Vs R
⎛ 1⎞ ⎛ Vs ⎞
I = ⎜ − ⎟Vd + ⎜ ⎟
⎝ R⎠ ⎝R⎠
y = mx + c y ⎛V
⎜ s ⎞
R ⎟⎠
⎝
X − axis intercept,Vs slope = − 1
R
Vs
Y − axis intercept, c =
R
Vs
Slope, m = − 1 x
R
24
Nonlinear Circuit Analysis: Load Line technique
Vs = Vd + I × R
Vd
⎛ 1⎞ ⎛ Vs ⎞
I = ⎜ − ⎟Vd + ⎜ ⎟
⎝ R⎠ ⎝R⎠ Vs R
In the load line equation,
I is the resistor current when the
voltage across the diode is Vd
On the other hand, when the voltage I ⎛ Vs ⎞
across the diode is Vd, the diode ⎜ R⎟
⎝ ⎠
current is given by the diode I-V curve
slope = − 1
R
For example, when the diode voltage
is Vd1 the diode current is Id1
Diode
However, in this circuit, Id must be equal I-V Vs
IR.
Id1 V
Hence the actual operating point is given
by the load line – I-V intercept. Vd1 25
Load Line : example
Vd
Vs Vd=0.78V
R
2V 500Ω
Id=2.4 mA
Id=2.4 mA
V axis intercept, Vs = 2 V
Vd=0.78V
26
Load Line : another example
Vd
Vs Vd=0.76V
R
2.5V 1250Ω
Id=1.4 mA
Id=1.4 mA
V axis intercept, Vs = 2.5 V
Vd=0.76V
27
…continued… Load Line (Variation of R)
Vd
R
Vs
2.0V
28
…continued… Load Line (Variation of Vs)
Vd
R
Vs
1000Ω
29
Circuit with the Tunnel Diode and Resistor
I, mA Vd
8
6 3
2
4 TD Vs
R
4
2 1
V, V