“Application of transit time effect in IMPATT diodes”

Ramjee Prasad

RH6802B54

10804900

B.Tech(LEET)

ECE-304

Introduction: IMPATT diode fabrication:

The IMPATT diode or IMPact Avalanche IMPACT avalanche transit time

Transit Time diode is an RF
semiconductor device that is used for
generating microwave radio frequency
signals. With the ability to operate at
frequencies between about 3 and 100 GHz
or more, one of the main advantages of
this microwave diode is the relatively high
power capability of the IMPATT diode.
(IMPATT) diodes are well known for their
performance at frequencies extending into
the millimetre-wave range. Many radar
systems have a need for high power
microwave sources in their transmitters
that can only be addressed by the use of
IMPATT diodes .

The structure of the diode is shown below:

IMPATT diodes are used in a variety of

applications from low power radar systems
to alarms and many other microwave radio
applications. In fact IMPATT diodes are
ideal where small cost effective
microwave radio sources are needed. The
main drawback of generators using
IMPATT diodes is the high level of phase A fabricated IMPATT diode generally is
mounted in a micro wave package. The
noise they generate. This results from the
diode is mounted with its high – field
statistical nature of the avalanche process region close to a copper heat sink so that
that is key to their operation. Nevertheless the heat generated at the diode junction
these microwave diodes make excellent can be readily conducted away by the
signal sources for many RF microwave copper heatsink. Similar microwave
applications. packages are used to house other
microwave devices. Their small size and
light weight are advantageous in these
systems when compared with alternatives.
So far, monolithic millimetre-wave
IMPATT oscillators have been fabricated
in GaAs, InP, Si, and SiGe processes.
There is a variety of structures that are
used for the IMPATT diode. All are
variations of a basic PN junction and
usually there is an intrinsic layer, i.e. a
layer without any doping that is placed
between the P type and N type regions.
Typically the N type layer is around one or
two microns thick and the intrinsic layer
between 3 and 20 microns. In the very
high frequency versions of the diodes the
intrinsic layer will be very much thinner
and dimensions of only 0.5 microns are
not unknown.
A variety of semiconductor materials are
used for the fabrication of IMPATT
diodes. Silicon and gallium arsenide are
the most commonly used semiconductors,
although germanium, indium phosphide
and other mixed group semiconductors can
be employed.
Most IMPATT diodes are produced in
discrete form and operated in external
circuits, limiting their widespread use in
compact, lightweight, and low-cost
systems that require higher degrees of
integration. Recently, monolithic
integration of lateral IMPATT diodes with
a microstrip patch antenna at 77 GHz has
been achieved in standard complementary
metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS)
technology . This CMOS transmitter is
particularly appealing from a cost
reduction and system integration
standpoint. In this work, the antenna is
designed as a radiator and a resonator at
the same time to minimize the required
chip area. In addition, a study of the effect
of different feed type and feed locations to
match the IMPATT impedance is
presented. Such a topology reduces
parasitic losses, since no microstrip line is
necessary to connect the oscillator to the
antenna. At the same time, matching the
IMPATT to the antenna is facilitated by
integrating three diodes and three stubs
along one of the radiating edges. In this
study, the antenna impedance seen by the
IMPATT diode was estimated by the
electromagnetic (EM) field solver Sonnet,
while the impedance of the IMPATT diode
was characterized by on-wafer
measurements in a standard CMOS
process .
The fabricated IMPATT diodes are
generally mounted in microwave packages
to ensure that their performance is not
impaired by an inferior package. The
package itself is key to the performance of
the IMPATT, especially as these devices
may operate at frequencies of many tens of
GHz. For thermal reasons, the diode is
mounted so that its high field region
around the junction is close to a copper
heat sink area in the package. This enables
the heat generated within the device to be
removed effectively so that it can run at its
rated power without the junction
temperature rising too high. Often the
package is coaxial in format so that the
correct transmission line properties are
presented to the RF signal which may be at
many tens of GHz. As a result the package
is often quite intricate and accordingly
very expensive, especially when very high
frequencies are used.
IMPATT diode operation:
In terms of its operation the IMPATT
diode can be considered to consist of two
areas, namely the avalanche region or
injection region, and secondly the drift
region.
These two areas provide different
functions. The avalanche or injection
region creates the carriers which may be
either holes of electrons, and the drift
region is where the carriers move across
the diode taking a certain amount of time
dependent upon its thickness.
If a free electron with sufficient energy are found to be 180 degrees out of phase
strikes on silicon atom, it can break with the voltage. This results from two
covalent bond of silicon and liberate an delays which occur in the device: injection
electron from the covalent bond. If the delay, and a transit time delay as the
electron gained energy by electric field and current carriers migrate or drift across the
liberated other electrons from other device.
covalent bonds then this process can
cascade (avalanche) very quickly into
chain reaction producing a number of
electrons and large current flow in diode.
This phenomenon is called impact
avalanche. At breakdown, the n – region is
punched through and forms the avalanche
region of the diode. The high resistivity i –
region is the drift zone through which the
avalanche generated electrons move
toward the anode.

The IMPATT diode is operated under

reverse bias conditions. These are set so
that avalanche breakdown occurs. This
occurs in the region very close to the P+
(i.e. heavily doped P region). The electric The voltage applied to the IMPATT diode
field at the p-n junction is very high has a mean value that means the diode is
because the voltage appears across a very on the verge of avalanche breakdown. The
narrow gap creating a high potential voltage varies as a sine wave, but the
gradient. Under these circumstances any generation of carriers does not occur in
carriers are accelerated very quickly. As a unison with the voltage variations. It might
result they collide with the crystal lattice be expected that it would occur at the peak
and free other carriers. voltage. This arises because the generation
of carriers is not only a function of the
These newly freed carriers are similarly electric field but also the number of
accelerated and collide with the crystal carriers already in existence.
lattice freeing more carriers. This process
gives rise to what is termed avalanche
breakdown as the number of carriers
multiplies very quickly. For this type of
breakdown only occurs when a certain
voltage is applied to the junction. Below
this the potential does not accelerate the
carriers sufficiently.

Once the carriers have been generated the

device relies on negative resistance to
generate and sustain an oscillation. The
effect does not occur in the device at DC,
but instead, here it is an AC effect that is
brought about by phase differences that are
seen at the frequency of operation. When As the electric field increases so does the
an AC signal is applied the current peaks number of carriers. Then even after the
field has reached its peak the number of
carriers still continues to grow as a result
of the number of carriers already in
existence. This continues until the field
falls to below a critical value when the
number of carriers starts to fall. As a result
of this effect there is a phase lag so that the
current is about 90 degrees behind the
voltage. This is known as the injection
phase delay.
When the electrons move across the N+
region an external current is seen, and this
occurs in peaks, resulting in a repetitive
waveform.
Practical operation
The main application for IMPATT diodes
is in microwave generators. An alternating
signal is generated simply by applying a
DC supply when a suitable tuned circuit is
applied. The output is reliable and
relatively high when compared to other
forms of microwave diode. In view of its
high levels of phase noise it is used in
transmitters more frequently than as a
local oscillator in receivers where the
phase noise performance is generally more
important. It is also used in applications
where phase noise performance is unlikely
to be of importance.
To run an IMPATT diode, a relatively
high voltage, often as high as 70 volts or
higher may be required. This often limits
their application as voltages of this order
are not always easy to use in some pieces
of equipment. Nevertheless IMPATT
diodes are particularly attractive option for
microwave diodes for many areas.
Effect of Ionizing Radiation on the
Silicon IMPATT Diode Characteristics:
We investigated 60
the effect of Co γ-
irradiation (doses from 102 to 2×106 Gy),
both without and with heat annealing, on
silicon IMPATT diode parameters. It is
shown that such treatments improve the
diode characteristics (particularly decrease
the reverse current and increase both the
output and the diffusion length of the
minority charge carriers) due to radiation-
enhanced processes.
Introduction:
At present a number of technological
procedures are known that enable to
purposefully change the parameters of
device structures based on different
semiconductor materials. Various methods
of gattering and structural - impurity
ordering have been developed that can
improve the device structure parameters.
During manufacturing devices often
accumulate various structural defects
generated in them during chip formation,
dissipative welding and/or thermo-
compression bonding. This results in both
degradation of parameters in the finished
product and yield reduction. For such
devices the restoration of their properties
poses a problem. Conventional heat
treatment would not do in this case
because the annealing temperature is
limited (as the contacts must not be fused).
To apply other treatments, one has to know
with certainty the nature of the defect as
well as the treatment peculiarities,
themselves neither of which is often taken
into account in practice. We did manage to
improve the parameters of silicon impact-
avalanche and transit-time (IMPATT)
diodes by -irradiation of _nished
production (packaged diodes) or generator
units (IMPATT diodes in a cavity), both
with and without heat annealing. Such
treatments do not generate structural
defects, nor do they result in material
compensation and widening of the space
charge region.
Experimental Procedure:
The diodes studied were fabricated using
boron diffusion from vapor phase into the
n − n+ Si substrate (the charge carrier
concentration in the n layer was (3 + 5) ×
1016 cm−3). The reverse mesa diameter was
5×10-3 cm, and the avalanche-breakdown
voltage VB was 19-20 V. The starting
microwave output P* out did not exceed
35 mW at operating current Iop = 100 mA.
The reverse branches of I −V curves were
taken and the diffusion length of minority
charge carriers Lp and output Pout were
measured both before and after the
corresponding treatments. To treat the
diodes studied we used 60Co –radiation
(doses from 102 to 2×106 Gy, dose rate 3
Gy/s), both with and without heat
annealing, at temperature T = 200-250 0C
for 40-60 min.
Experimental Results and Discussion:
Shown in Figure are the dose
dependencies of the reverse current IR (at
the reverse
bias VR = 0.9 V), diffusion length Lp and
the relative change of the mean microwave
output, Pout/P *out. One can see that both
IR and Lp dose dependencies correlate
with change of Pout/P*out change due to
60Co γ-irradiation. According to
Dependencies of the silicon IMPATT
diode parameters on the absorbed dose of
60
Co γ-irradiation: 1- Reverse current IR;
2- Diffusion length of the minority charge
carriers Lp; 3- Output Pout.
Pout = (ΔTw/ϵVB RT S1/2)2µ eff qB;
- -------- (1)
where ΔT is the difference between the
temperatures of the SCR and the ambient,
w is the SCR width, ϵ is permitivity of the
diode material, RT is the diode heat
resistance, S is the p − n junction area, µeff
is the effective mobility of charge carriers
and qB is the diode resistivity.
From Expression (1) it is evident that if w;
VB and qB remain constant, then the Pout
increase due to 60Co -irradiation may result
from changes in RT; S and/or µeff . Indeed,
the direct heat resistance measurements for
the IMPATT diodes studied have shown
that RT was decreasing during γ-irradiation.
This results from the increase of the
effective cross section area of the active
region where heat dissipation occurred. In
addition, the effective mobility µeff may
grow as a result of the radiation-enhanced
gettering due to a decrease in the number
of scattering centers. The last statement is
circumstantially evidenced by the results
of direct electron-probe measurements of
the diffusion length Lp both before and
after -irradiation of test structures
fabricated from the same wafers that were
used to fabricate the IMPATT diodes
studied (see Figure, curve 2).
We have studied also the effect of the low-
temperature (T = 200-280 0C) annealing on
the output Pout and the reverse current IR
for the IMPATT diodes reradiated by the
60
Co -quanta. The corresponding results
are given below:
Effect of 60Co γ-irradiation (without and
with heat annealing at 200 0C for 1 hour)
on the Pout=P* out and IR=ISR ratios for
silicon IMPATT diodes.
Effect of the temperature of heat annealing
(for 1 hour) on the Pout=PSout and
IR=ISR ratios for 60Co -irradiated (dose of
5 _ 105 Gy) silicon IMPATT diodes.
Effect of the duration of heat annealing (at
200 0C) on the Pout=Psout and IR=ISR
ratios
for 60Co γ-irradiated silicon IMPATT
diodes (dose of 7 × 105 Gy) .
One can see that the low-temperature
annealing after 60Co γ -irradiation
increases Pout as well. It should be noted
that the above heat treatment of the non-
irradiated IMPATT diodes either resulted
in a decrease of the output Pout, or, at
best, did not change it.
In impact avalanche transit time
(IMPATT) diodes fabricated in 0.18- m
standard complementary metal–oxide–
semiconductor technology to enable
operation at 77 GHz. The lateral IMPATT
diodes are integrated with a microstrip
patch antenna, modified to provide
impedance matching and widen the tuning
range. The antenna dimensions and the
impedance matching are designed using
the high-frequency electromagnetic field
solver Sonnet. The output spectrum has no
visible spurious components. The
transmitted power is 62 dBm at 76 GHz.
The measured frequency is within 1.3% of
the simulated value. It is hoped that this
device will find application in automotive
and communication systems.
Monolithic Integrated Millimeter-Wave
IMPATT Transmitter in Standard
CMOS Technology:
INTRODUCTION:
IMPACT avalanche transit time
(IMPATT) diodes are well known for their
performance at frequencies extending into
the millimeter-wave range. Many radar
systems have a need for high power
microwave sources in their transmitters
that can only be addressed by the use of
IMPATT diodes . Their small size and
light weight are advantageous in these
systems when compared with alternatives.
So far, monolithic millimeter-wave
IMPATT oscillators have been fabricated
in GaAs, InP , Si , and SiGe processes.
Most IMPATT diodes are produced in
discrete form and operated in external
circuits, limiting their widespread use in
compact, lightweight, and low-cost
systems that require higher degrees of
integration. Recently, monolithic
integration of lateral IMPATT diodes with
a microstrip patch antenna at 77 GHz has
been achieved in standard complementary
metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS)
technology .
This CMOS transmitter is particularly
appealing from a cost reduction and
system integration standpoint. In this
work, the antenna is designed as a radiator
and a resonator at the same time to
minimize the required chip area.
In addition, a study of the effect of
different feed type and feed locations to
match the IMPATT impedance is
presented. Such a topology reduces
parasitic losses, since no microstrip line is
necessary to connect the oscillator to the
antenna. At the same time, matching the
IMPATT to the antenna is facilitated by
integrating three diodes and three stubs
along one of the radiating edges.
In this study, the antenna impedance seen
by the IMPATT diode was estimated by
the electromagnetic (EM) field solver
Sonnet, while the impedance of the
IMPATT diode was characterized by on-
wafer measurements in a standard CMOS
process.
OSCILLATOR DESIGN:
A necessary condition for steady-state
oscillation is a zero sum for the circuit and
device impedances at the steady-state
operating point. The microwave negative
resistance of an IMPATT diode arises out
of a phase difference between the RF
voltage and RF current. This phase
difference is produced by the lagging RF
current generated in the space charge layer
with respect to the applied RF voltage.
The time delay inherent in the build up of
the avalanche current is augmented by the
transit delay experienced by the charge
carriers in crossing the drift region at
saturated drift velocity. In order for the
diode to operate as a stable oscillator, the
negative conductance of the diode must
decrease with increasing RF voltage. The
RF voltage across the diode will grow until
the admittance of the diode is balanced by
the admittance of the microwave circuit.
Lateral IMPATT Diode:
The cross section of the lateral IMPATT
diode as shown in fig.. The diode has a
single drift region. The p , n, and n regions
of the IMPATT diode are implemented
using standard source/drain, n-well, and
ohmic contact diffusion regions,
respectively. The impedance of the diode
is measured up to 110 GHz by means of a
vector network analyzer (VNA) connected
to a CASCADE wafer prober. To
minimize the influence of the
measurement setup on the diodes, a
constant VNA output power of 20 dBm is
used. The Smith chart in Fig. 3 provides
the reflection coefficient prior to
deembedding. At certain frequencies, it
becomes greater than 1, as needed to
enable oscillation. With open and short
structures, the impedance of the parallel
and series parasitics are estimated to allow
deembedded measurements of diode
impedance.
CONCLUSION:
A monolithic integrated IMPATT
transmitter built in standard CMOS
technology and operating in the
millimetre-wave range has been
investigated experimentally. Using a patch
antenna driven by a lateral IMPATT diode,
the 4-mm transmitter delivers a radiated
power of 62 dBm at 76 GHz. By using this
particular configuration, area requirements
and parasitic losses of the integrated
transmitter are reduced. Because of the
cost efficiency and the robustness of
standard CMOS manufacturing, this type
of monolithic integrated transmitter may
be well suited for use in millimetre-wave
systems for various applications ranging
from communications to automobile
anticollision radar systems.
COMPLEX NONLINEAR MODEL
FOR THE PULSED-MODE IMPATT
DIODE:
INTRODUCTION
A complex nonlinear model for high-
power pulsed IMPATT diode oscillator
analysis is presented. This model is
suitable for the analysis of different
operational modes of the oscillator. It takes
into account the main electrical and
thermal phenomena in the semiconductor
structure and the functional dependence of
the governing equations' coefficients on
the electrical field and temperature. The
temperature distribution in the
semiconductor structure is obtained using
the special thermal model of the IMPATT
diode, which is based on the numerical
solution of the non-linear thermal
conductivity equation. The complex model
presented in this work can be applied for
the practical design of pulsed-mode
millimetre IMPATT diodes. It can also be
utilized for diode thermal regime
estimation, for the proper selection of
feed-pulse shape and amplitude, and for
the development of complex doping-
profile high-power pulsed millimetric
IMPATT diodes with improved
characteristics.
IMPATT (IMPact Avalanche ionization
and Transit Time) diodes are principal
active elements for use in millimetric
pulsed-mode generators. Semiconductor
structures suitable for fabrication of
continuos-mode IMPATT diodes have
been well known for a long time.They
have been utilized successfully in many
applications in microwave engineering.
The possibilities of using the same
structures for pulsed-mode microwave
generators are very interesting because the
pulsed-mode IMPATT-diode generators
can successfully operate at high current
densities without deterioration of
reliability.
The cross section of the pulsed-mode
IMPATT diode may be larger than that of
continuous-mode diodes. Therefore, a
pulsed-mode oscillator can provide a
larger output power. Considering that the
increase of the output power of millimetric
generators is one of the main problems of
microwave electronics it is important to
optimize the diode's active layer to obtain
the generator's maximum output power.
One of the main problems in the operation
of high-power IMPATT-diode pulsed-
mode generator is the large variation of the
diode's admittance during the pulse. This
variation is significant during each current
pulse due to the temperature change in the
diode's semiconductor structure.
Therefore, diffusion coefficients,
ionization rates and charge mobility
experience large variations during the
pulse. These changes strongly affect the
amplitude and phase of the first harmonic
of the diode's avalanche current.
Therefore, the admittance value also
changes. This results in the instability of
the generator's output power and frequency
within each generated microwave pulse.
Pulsed-mode IMPATT diodes that are
utilized in microwave electronics are, most
frequently, single drift and double-drift
structures similar to continuous-mode ones
. The typical diode structure is shown in
the Fig. 1 by curve 1; where N is the
concentration of donors and acceptors and
l is the length of the diode active layer. In
this type of diode, the electrical field is
strongly distorted when the avalanche
current density is sufficiently high. This
large space charge density is one of the
main reasons for the sharp electrical field
gradient along the charge drift path.
Because of this field gradient, the space
charge avalanche ruins itself and
consequently the optimum phase relations
degrade between the microwave potential
and the current. This factor is especially
important when the IMPATT diode is fed
at the maximum current density, which is
exactly the case for pulsed-mode
operation.
The idea to utilize a complex doping
profile semiconductor structure for a
microwave diode was originally proposed
in the first analysis of IMPATT diodes by
Read [6]. This proposed ideal structure has
never been realized till now. However,
modern
semiconductor technology provides new
possibilities for the fabrication of sub
micron semiconductor structures with
complex doping profiles. This stimulates
the search for IMPATT-diode special
structure optimization for pulsed-mode
operation.
The proposed new type of IMPATT diode
doping profile is shown in Fig. 1 by the
curve 2. This type of semiconductor
structure can be named a quasi-Read-type
structure. This type of doping profile
provides a concentration of the electrical
field within the p-n junction. This measure
helps to decrease the destruction of the
avalanche space charge and therefore
permits an improvement of the phase
stability between the diode current and
voltage. Historically, many analytical and
numerical models have been developed for
the various operational modes of IMPATT
diodes. However, they are not adequate for
very high current density values and
different temperature distributions inside
the structure, which is exactly the case for
the pulsed-mode IMPATT diode oscillator.
For this reason, we have developed a new
complex numerical model of the IMPATT
diode that is composed of the advanced
thermal model and the modified local-field
model. The thermal model provides the
exact theoretical temperature distribution
along the diode active region. The local-
field electrical model calculates the
functional dependence of equation
coefficients from the electric field and the
temperature, and using all these data
finally derives the IMPATT diode
dynamic characteristics.
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1.http://www.used-robots.com/robot-
education.php
2.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMPATT
_diode
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electronics.com/info/data/semicond/imp
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electronics.com/info/data/semicond/imp
att/impatt-diodes.php
5.http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1981eea
p.conf..565S
6.http://www.microwaves101.com/encyc
lopedia/diodes_IMPATT.cfm
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