Effect of Enhanced Leakage Current on the Microwave Negative Resistance of High Efficiency GaAs Double Drift Region IMPATT Diode

Abstract

The effect of enhanced electron and hole leakage currents on (i) the negative resistance profiles, (ii) the admittance characteristics, and (iii) the device quality factor (Q) of K-band GaAs low-high-low double drift region IMPATT has been studied through computer simulation. The results show that the diode negative resistance increases first and then starts decreasing with the increase of electron leakage current. This oscillatory character of negative resistance due to enhanced leakage current bears a striking similarity to the previous result from a GaAs single drift region IMPATT diode [7]. It is also observed that the frequency or operation of the high efficiency diode shifts upwards and the device Q increases with increasing leakage current.

Indexing terms:

• GaAs DDR IMPATT
• High efficiency IMPATT
• Leakage current