ELC3510:

Microwave and Antenna

Unit – III
Microwave Semiconductor Devices & Antenna

Prof. Ekram Khan

Department of Electronics Engineering
AMU Aligarh
 Overview of Unit-III
Part-1: Microwave
Semiconductor Devices
• Limitations of Transistors at
high frequencies
• Tunnel Diode
• Gunn Diode
• Varactor Diode
• PIN diode
• Schottky Barrier Diode
• Microstrips and Strip lines
Part-2: Introduction to
Antennas
• Introduction to Antenna
• Single wire, two-wire and
dipole antenna
• Antenna Applications
• Types of Antenna
• Antenna Characteristics and
Parameters
• Antenna Polarizations
Part-1: Microwave Semiconductor Devices
Advantages of Semiconductor Devices:
• Small size
• Low cost
• Consume less power
• High efficiency
• Used in mobile communication and radars systems
 Limitations of transistors at Microwave
frequencies?
• Junction Capacitance: capacitance reactance get smaller that limit
the gain.
• Lead inductance: reduces the gain due to negative feedback, which
crop due to high frequency effect or due to poor packaging.
• Transit time: transit time in excess of 0.1 cycle of signal cause a
significant decrease in transistor performance.
 Junction capacitances and lead Inductances

Cμ
B
C

Cπ
g mV
➢ Le (>1 GHz) reduces the gain due to negative
voltage series feedback.
Le
Microwave semiconductor devices

The operation principle is similar to low frequency counter parts.

Difference between them is the following:
• Small Size to minimize the transit time effect
• More carefully packed to minimize Capacitance and Inductance
• Advance Heat sink.
Negative Resistance and Oscillations
Negative Resistance and Oscillations
Negative Resistance and Oscillations
Negative Resistance and Oscillations
Negative Resistance and Oscillations
Tunnel Diode
• Negative resistance p-n junction diode.
• The negative resistance is created by the tunnel effect of
electrons in p-n junction.
• Doping of both p-n junction is very high 1019-1020
atoms/cm3
• Depletion layer at the junction is very thin. ( ≤ 3 Angstrom)
• Tunnel Diodes could be used to build high speed:
▪ Amplifier and oscillator
Symbol
▪ Memory Elements
I-V Characteristic of Tunnel Diode
Tunnel diode under zero-bias
Tunnel diode and load line

Negative resistance The negative conductance is

given by

where Rn is the magnitude of

negative Resistance.
The negative resistance
enables the tunnel diode to
function as microwave
amplifier or oscillator
Tunnel Diode Current

−1 −1
𝑑𝐼 𝑉 𝐼𝑃 𝑉
𝑅= = 1− exp 1 −
𝑑𝑉 𝑉𝑃 𝑉𝑃 𝑉𝑃
 Oscillations

C +
V0
- L
R

• Oscillation starts with initial charges on capacitor but die out due to
positive R (power dissipation).
Negative Resistance Oscillator

N.R
+ L
C
V0
-

R -R

• Negative resistance compensates for loss.

• Oscillations are sustained.
 Equivalent circuit model of tunnel diode

• Rs and Ls denote the inductance and resistance of the packaging circuit of a

tunnel diode.
• The junction capacitance C of the diode is usually measured at the valley point
• Rn is the magnitude of negative resistance.
Input Impedance and cutoff frequency
• The resistive cutoff frequency, fc , is
defined as the frequency at which real
part of the input impedance is zero.
Thus

• The self resonance cutoff frequency,

fr , is defined as the frequency at
which imaginary part of the input
impedance is zero. Therefore
 Amplifier Gain: Parallel loading
The output power in the The power generated by
load resistance is negative resistance is

The output power is sum of

Therefore
input power and power
generated by negative
resistance.
Let the gain of the amplifier
is A. Then, the input power The gain of the tunnel
at load resistance is diode amplifier is

When the negative resistance Rn approaches Rl, the gain approaches infinity and the
system goes into oscillations.
 Amplifier Gain: Series loading
In similar way, the gain of the tunnel
diode amplifier in series loading can be
obtained as

When the negative resistance Rn approaches Rl, the gain approaches infinity and the
system goes into oscillations.
Tunnel diode amplifier
Summary
• Tunnel Diode are low power devices
• Reason is operating voltage and current ranges are limited to small
value
• Tunnel Diode has low noise
• Due to low value of Rs (low thermal noise) and low operating
current (low shot noise)
• Tunnel Diode has high speed
• Due to absence of drift and diffusion delays as it works on tunnel
mechanism.
Solution:
GUNN EFFECT DIODE (GaAs)
• Bulk Device (no junctions are involved)
• n-type gallium arsenide (GaAs) n-GaAs
• Negative Resistance Device.
• Used as oscillator and amplifier in 1 to 100 GHz
range.
• Microwave amplification and oscillation are derived
from the bulk negative-resistance property of
uniform semiconductors rather than from the Symbol
junction negative-resistance property between two
different semiconductors
• Advantages: Low noise, High frequency operation
and Medium RF Power
 GUNN EFFECT (negative differential resistance)
• Drift velocity is linearly
increased from zero to a
maximum when the electric
field is varied from zero to a
threshold value.
• When the electric field is
beyond the threshold value of
3000 V/cm for the n-type
GaAs, the drift velocity is
decreased and the diode
exhibits negative resistance.
• This behavior was first
observed by J.B. Gunn, and
so its called Gunn-Effect
 V-I or E-J plot
1 j i
• V-I curve is similar to Tunnel − = =
R E Q A v Q A
Diode.
• Ridley-Watkins-Hilsum (RWH)
I or J
proposed Valley theory to Negative resistance region
explain this peculiar behavior.
Original bulk
resistance

Ultimate bulk
resistance

V or E
 Two-Valley Model Theory

• According to the energy band

theory of the n-type GaAs, a
high-mobility lower valley is
separated by an energy of
0.36 eV from a low-mobility
upper valley
• Electrons can easily move in
LV. In UV their mobility is
restricted.
Data for two valleys in GaAs

• Electrons have higher mobility in Lower Valley (LV).

• Electrons have lower mobility in Upper Valley (UV).
 Reason why it is
Transfer of Electron density called TEDs

Transfered Electron
device
 Current and drift velocity vs Electric field

Power Gain analysis is same as of Tunnel Diode.

 Varactor Diode
• Voltage-controlled capacitor
• Capacitance is finely controlled when diode is
reversed bias
• Due to reactance, noise is low
• Much higher frequency of operation if GaAs is used
as compared to Si
• Applications:
• Voltage controlled tuning
• Frequency multiplication
• Parametric Devices
 I-V Plot
F.B.

Operated in Reverse Bias

region: due to smooth
capacitance variation Vz
Avalanche
region
V

Region of
operation
 C-V Plot
Capacitance decreases as reverse bias increases
C0
Cj = γ
 V Cj
1 + 
 φ
C0
 = built in potential
V = reverse bias voltage Not suitable
 = vary with doping for tuning
C0 = capacitance at zero bias
CJ=junction capacitance -V

Useful region
Figure of Merits (FoMs)
• The performance of Varactor diode depends on
• Cut-off frequency
• Voltage sensitivity
• Operating voltage range
 Equivalent Circuit Model

Ls = Series inductance rj Rs = Series resistance

Ls
Rs
Cj
Cp
rj & Cj = junction resistance and
CP = Stray capacitance capacitance

Safe to neglect Cp, rj & Ls at the frequency of interest.

Simplified Model

Cj RS

Quality Resistive
factor cut-off
1 1
Q= fc =
ωC jR s 2π R s C j

fc < 100 GHz for Si, whereas for GaAs fc is much higher
Voltage Sensitivity and Voltage Range
• The capacitance-voltage sensitivity, s, is defined as the ratio of the
relative change of capacitance to the relative change of voltage

d(logC j )
s=− s depends on doping
d(logV)
• s depends on doping
• Voltage range is the range over which smooth variation in capacitance
can be achieved.
• The diodes with higher Vz are preferred as it gives higher operating
range
Pin diode
• Voltage controlled resistor (variable resistor)
• Passive device
• Low noise
• Materials used are Si and GaAs
• With GaAs speed is higher compared to Si.
• Applications: switch and power control
 PIN Diode Structure
• ‘I’ region is sandwiched between ‘P’ and ‘N’ regions
• Intrinsic layer between the P- Anode Intrinsic Cathode
type and N-type regions of
the PIN diode enable it to
provide P I N
• high reverse breakdown
voltage
• low level of capacitance

• PIN diode acts as an ordinary diode up to 100 MHz, beyond this frequency
its operational characteristics change.
Operation

r.b. RD
RD
High
resistance 5-10 k
due to small f.b.
number of
carriers
1-10 
Low value
- +
V
due to
large
Reverse bias = number of
OFF Forware bias carriers
= ON
Figure of Merit
FoM

1
fr =
2π R D C j R
D C
J
fr  150 GHz

A high value of fr is desired

Equivalent Model
 Power Control
• Power flow can be controlled using PIN
diode
• Power flow to the load when PIN is
reverse bias
• No flow to the load when forward bias. RL
• Single device can control Pav200W

PIN
 Schottky-Barrier Diode
• Junction is formed between metal and n-type
Deposited
semiconductor.
Metal
• Its unipolar device, electron is majority carrier on
both sides of junction.
• Lower capacitance due to metal-semiconductor
contact
• Noise performance is good due to low contact
resistance
• If GaAs is used instead of Si, then noise will be
reduced further
 Schottky-Barrier Diode
• Faster switching time as the delay present in
Deposited
junction diodes due to hole-electron
Metal
recombination time is absent
• The voltage drop across is 0.3 V compared to 0.5-
0.7 V for normal diode.
• Less dissipation of heat.
• GaAs can be operated >100GHz
• Use: Microwave Detectors and Mixers
Microstrip and strip lines
• Early RF and microwave systems relied on waveguides, two-wire lines, and
coaxial lines for transmission.
• Waveguides have the advantage of high power-handling capability and low
loss but are bulky and expensive, especially at low frequencies.
• Two-wire lines are inexpensive but lack shielding.
• Coaxial lines are shielded but are a difficult medium in which to fabricate
complex microwave components.
• Planar transmission lines provide an alternative, in the form of stripline,
microstrip lines, slotlines, coplanar waveguides, and several other types of
related geometries.
• Such transmission lines are compact, low in cost, and capable of being easily
integrated with active circuit devices, such as diodes and transistors, to form
microwave integrated circuits.
Micro-strip lines
• Microstrip line is used to carry Electro-Magnetic Waves (EM waves)
or microwave frequency signals.
• It consists of 3 layers, conducting strip, dielectric and Ground plane.
• It is used to design and fabricate RF and microwave components such
as directional coupler, power divider/combiner, filter, antenna,
microwave monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC).
• Used for interconnection of circuit elements on Microwave ICs
(MICs)
• Planar Architecture
Micro-strip line
Dielectric: Teflon, Alumina
Strip conductor: copper
Microstrip line
 Micro-strip line
• The fields exist in non-homogeneous medium (air and dielectric)
• Advantages
• Easy to fabricate with microwave Integrated circuits
• The top conductor is easily accessible so it is easier to mount passive and active
microwave devices.
• Lower cost
• Light in weight
• Compact
• Better connection feature
• Disadvantages:
• Low power handling capabilities
• Radiation Loss
• Poor Isolation
Characteristic impedance, velocity

The velocity of propagation and guide

Effective
wavelength are dielectric constant

where
 Characteristic impedance
The characteristic impedance of a wider micro-strip line can be
written as:

377  h 
Z0 =   for w  h
εr  w 

However, mostly narrow-strip lines are used in MICs.

Characteristic impedance
Micro-strip ZO can be adjusted by choice of W & h etc.
87  5.98h 
Z0 = ln  for h  0.8w
ε r + 1.41  0.8w + t 

r increasing

Z0

W/h
(1 mil = 0.001 inches = 0.0254 mm)
Losses in micro-strip
• Types of losses
• Di-electric loss in substrate
• Ohmic losse in strip conductor and ground plane.
• Radiation Loss

DIELECTRIC LOSS:
Losses due to finite conductivity of dielectric material are called dielectric
losses. Some energy is dissipated as heat.
Dielectric attenuation
constant

Loss
tangent
σ is the conductivity of the
dielectric substrate in mho/cm.
 Ohmic (conductivity) Losses
Skin effect: the tendency of an alternating current to become distributed
within a conductor such that current density is largest near the surface
of the conductor and decreases with greater depths in the conductor.
Conducting attenuation constant is Distribution

J1(x)

• Conductor losses are more significant than dielectric losses in Micro-strip

• These losses become very significant >100GHz
 Radiation losses
• These losses depend on
• Substrate thickness
• Dielectric constant
• Geometry

Ratio of radiated power to total dissipated power for an open circuited microstrip line
is (given by Lewin)

Free space
wavelength
Strip-lines
• Special connecting lines used in MICs
• They carry TEM waves. They can also carry TE, TM waves.
• Like Micro-strips, they are
▪ Planar
▪ Easy of fabricate
▪ Low cost
• Types of Strip-lines
▪ Parallel
▪ Coplanar
▪ Shielded
 R L
Parallel Strip line
G
C
Conductor
Width
w

Distributive Model
Separation
d d d where R represents the conductor loss and G the loss due
dielectric
Model parameters can be expressed as;
Schematic Diagram
2 πfμ c μ cd εd w σd w
R= ;L = ;C = ;G =
w σc w d d

where σc=conductor conductivity; and σd=dielectric conductivity

Characteristic Impedance, Z0
For low loss lines, following approximations are valid:

R  ωL and G  ωC
Therefore the characteristic impedance can be approximated as
L d μc 377 d
Z0  = =
C w εd ε rd w
The Phase velocity is given by
c
v=
εr
Attenuation Losses
1 L
γ= (G + jω C)(R + jω L )  γ   R
C
+G  + jω LC
2 L C 
Attenuation 1 C L
loss α   R +G 
2 L C 
Phase
constant
β = ω LC
Conductor
1 C 1 πfε d
loss α c   R =
2 L  d σc
Dielectric
loss 1 L  188σ d
α d   G =
2 C  ε rd
 Coplanar strip line
Active
• A coplanar trip line Ground conductor
consists of two conducting conductor
strips on one substrate
surface with one strip
grounded.
• Two strips on the same
substrate surface allow for
convenient connections.
• Easier fab relative to
parallel.
• Lower production cost.
Characteristic impedance
Shielded strip line
• A partially shielded strip line has its strip conductor embedded in a
dielectric medium, and its top and bottom ground planes have no
connection.
Ground
conductor

Main
conductor

Ground
conductor
Characteristic impedance

Cf = fringe capacitance in pF/m

Problem 1

Problem 2
Problem 3
Solution 1
Problem 2

Solution 2
Solution 3