Introduction

A Gunn diode is also known as a transferred electron device (TED). It is a form of diode used in high-frequency electronics. It is somewhat unusual that it consists only of n-doped semiconductor material, whereas most diodes consist of both P and -doped regions. In practice, a !unn diode has a region of negati"e differential resistance. !allium Arsenide !unn #iodes are made for frequencies up to $%%!&' whereas !allium itride can reach upto ()&'.

GUNN DIODE

* The DC I V characteristic of a Gunn diode, showing the region of negative differential resistance. * Other negative resistance devices, such as im act avalanche and transit time !I"#$TT% and tunnel diodes, have similar I V characteristics.

$ &'(and Gunn diode oscillator. The out ut ower is )* d+m, and the source is mechanicall, tuna(le over a fre-uenc, range of . G/0.

GUNN DIODE
* Figure above shows a DC I V curve that is characteristic of Gunn diodes, where the region of negative differential resistance (negative slope) corresponds to the operating point of the device. * Gunn diodes can produce continuous power of up to several hundred illiwatts, at fre!uencies fro " to #$$ G%&, with efficiencies ranging fro '( to "'(. * )scillator circuits using Gunn diodes re!uire a high-Q resonant -circuit or cavit*, which is often tuned echanicall*.

GUNN DIODE
* Gunn diodes are also +nown as transferred electron devices, ,-D, are widel* used in icrowave .F applications for fre!uencies between " and "$$ G%&. * ,he Gunn diode is ost co onl* used for generating icrowave .F signals - these circuits a* also be called a transferred electron oscillator or ,-). * ,he Gunn diode a* also be used for an a plifier in what a* be +nown as a transferred electron a plifier or ,-/. * /s Gunn diodes are eas* to use, the* for a relativel* low cost ethod for generating icrowave .F signals.
-

Gunn Diode 1,m(ol for Circuit Diagrams

* ,he Gunn diode diagra s varies.

s* bol

used

in

circuit

* )ften a standard diode is seen in the diagra , however this for of Gunn diode s* bol does not indicate the fact that the Gunn diode is not a 01 2unction. * Instead another s* bol showing two filled in triangles with points touching is used as shown below.

0rinciple
It consists of a slice with a buffer layer between the acti"e layer and the substrate, mounted in any of a number of packages,depending on the manufacturer,the frequency and the power le"el.+ncapsulation is also pro"ided to. )hey are grown epita,ially out of !aAs with silicon,or selenium.)he substrate used here as an ohmic contact, is highly doped for good conducti"ity,while the thin acti"e layer is less hea"ily doped. #iodes ha"e been made with acti"e layers "arying in thickness from -% to about . mm at the highest.)he actual structure is normally square, and so far !aAs diodes predominate commercially.

Gunn Diode Construction

* Gunn diodes are fabricated fro se iconductor. a single piece of n-t*pe

* ,he ost co on aterials are galliu /rsenide, Ga/s and Indiu 0hosphide, In0. %owever other aterials including Ge, Cd,e, In/s, In3b, 4n3e and others have been used. * ,he device is si pl* an n-t*pe bar with n5 contacts. * It is necessar* to use n-t*pe aterial because the transferred electron effect is onl* applicable to electrons and not holes found in a p-t*pe aterial. * 6ithin the device there are three ain areas, which can be roughl* ter ed the top, iddle and botto areas.

Gunn Diode Construction

,he top and botto areas of the device are heavil* doped to give 15 aterial. ,he device is ounted on a conducting base to which a wire connection is ade. It also acts as a heat-sin+ for the heat which is generated. ,he connection to the other ter inal of the diode is ade via a gold connection deposited onto the top surface.

Fig7 -pita8ial Ga$s Gunn slice.

 ,he centre area of the device is the active region. ,his region is also less heavil* doped and this eans that virtuall* all the voltage placed across the device appears across this region. In view of the fact that the device consists onl* of n t*pe aterial there is no p-n 2unction and in fact it is not a true diode, and it operates on totall* different principles.

O eration of Gunn Diode 6hen a voltage is placed across the device,

ost of the voltage appears across the inner active region. /s this is particularl* thin this eans that the voltage gradient that e8ists in this region is e8ceedingl* high.

It is found that when the voltage across the active region reaches a certain point a current is initiated and travels across the active region.

During the ti e when the current pulse is oving across the active region the potential gradient falls preventing an* further pulses fro for ing. )nl* when the pulse has reached the far side of the active region, the potential gradient will rise, allowing the ne8t pulse to be created. It can be seen that the ti e ta+en for the current pulse to traverse the active region largel* deter ines the rate at which current pulses are generated, and hence it deter ines the fre!uenc* of operation.

 For a nor al diode the current increases with voltage, although the relationship is not linear. )n the other hand the current for a Gunn diode starts to increase, and once a certain voltage has been reached, it starts to fall before rising again. ,he region where it falls is +nown as a negative resistance region, and this is the reason wh* it oscillates.

Gunn Diode O eration

2ig3 Gunn diode characteris

* The negative resistance area ena(les the Gunn diode to am lif, signals. * This can (e used (oth in am lifiers and oscillators. /owever Gunn diode oscillators are the most commonl, found.

Gunn Diode O eration

* ,his negative resistance region eans that the current flow in diode increases in the negative resistance region when the voltage falls - the inverse of the nor al effect in an* other positive resistance ele ent. * ,his phase reversal enables the Gunn diode to act as an a plifier and oscillator.

Gunn Diode $ 1chematic Diagram

Gunn Effect
/ sche atic diagra of a unifor n-t*pe Ga/s diode with oh ic contacts at the end surfaces is shown in above Fig. 9.: Gunn obsrved the Gunn effect in the nt*pe Ga/s bul+ diode in ";<=, an effect best e8plained b* Gunn hi self. /ccording to hi 7
/bove so e critical voltage, corresponding to an electric filed of #$$$->$$$ volts?c , the current in ever* speci en beca e a fluctuating function of ti e. In the Ga/s speci ens, this fluctuation too+ the for of a periodic oscillation superi posed upon

Gunn Effect
,he fre!uenc* of oscillation was deter ined ainl* b* the speci en, and not b* the e8ternal circuit. ,he period of oscillation was usuall* inversel* proportional to the speci en length and closel* e!ual to the transit ti e of electrons between the electrodes, calculated fro their esti ated velocit* of slightl* over "$@ c ?s. ,he pea+ pulse icrowave power delivered b* the Ga/s speci ens to a atched load was easured. Aalue as high as $.' 6 at " Gc?s, and $."' 6 at = Gc?s, were found, corresponding to "-#( of the pulse input power.

Gunn Effect
Fro GunnBs observation the carrier drift velocit* is linearl* increased fro &ero to a a8i u when the electric field is varied fro &ero to a threshold value. 6hen the electric field is be*ond the threshold value of =$$$ A?c for the n-t*pe Ga/s, the drift velocit* is decreased and the diode e8hibits negative resistance. ,his situation is shown in below Fig7

Gunn Effect

2ig3 Drift velocit, of electrons in n't, e Ga$s versus electric fiel

Gunn Effect
critical value -c region of negative differential obilit* caused b* transfer of the electrons to lower obilit* states

Gunn Effect

2ig3 Current waveform of n't, e Ga$s re orted (, Gunn

Gunn Effect
,he current wavefor was produced b* appl*ing a voltage pulse of "<-ns duration to a speci en of n-t*pe Ga/s #.' 8 "$-= c in length. ,he oscillation fre!uenc* was >.' G%&. ,he lower trace had # ns?c in the hori&ontal a8is and $.#= /?c in the vertical a8is. ,he upper trace was the e8panded view of the lower trace. Gunn found that the period of these
oscillations was e!ual to the transit ti e of the electrons through the speci en calculated fro

Gunn Effect
Gunn also discovered that the threshold electric field -th varied with the length and t*pe of aterial. %e developed an elaborate capacitive probe for plotting the electric field distributions within a speci en of n-t*pe Ga/s of length CD#"$ E and cross-sectional area = 8 "$-= c # with a low-field resistance of "<F. Current instabilities occurred at speci en voltages above ';A, which eans that the threshold field is

GUNN DIODE
/DA/1,/G-3
It has

uch lower noise than IG0/,, diodes

Gunn a plifiers are capable of broad-band operation. %igher pea+-to-valle* ratio in its ve resistance characteristics. %igh funda ental fre!uenc* operation. Increased efficienc*.

GUNN DIODES
/0CIC/,I)13

Gunn diode oscillator as low H ediu power oscillator in icrowave receivers H instru ents.

/s pu p source in para etric a plifier. %igh-power Gunn oscillators (#'$#$$$ 6)are used as power output oscillators.

 Fre!uenc* trans itter.

odulator in low power

In police H C6-Doppler ./D/. ,burglar alar s, aircraft rate-of-cli b indicators. IIG (*ttriu -iron garnet) -tuned Gunn AC)s for instru ent applications.

CONC4U1ION
Gunn diodes are also +nown as ,ransferred electronic device (,-D). %ere we conclude that Gunn diode are basicall* used for high fre!uenc* oscillations.