Читайте также: |
|
A tunnel p-n junction diode that is made from germanium or gallium arsenide with an extremely high level of impurity concentration (or doping) on each side of the junction (of the order of 1019-1020
cm-3).
In a tunnel diode, as is the case with ordinary semiconductor diodes, carriers diffuse across the p-n junction and drift in the reverse direction under the influence of the field. Both processes, however, are of minor importance as compared with what has come to be known as the tunnel effect or tunnelling.
Fig. 3.16. Current-voltage characteristic of a tunnel diode
The current-voltage characteristic of a tunnel diode show in Fig. 3.16. At U = 0, current is zero. An increase in the forward voltage to 0.1 V leads to a rise in the forward tunnel current to a maximum (point A). The further increase in forward voltage to 0.2 V is accompanied by a decrease in the tunnel current. Therefore, the current at point В is a minimum, and the characteristic has a down-sloping portion, AB, corresponding to a negative resistance to alternating current:
. (3.7)
By connecting a tunnel diode in a circuit in a suitable manner, it is possible to use its negative resistance so as to balance the positive resistanceand to obtain an amplifier or an oscillator. A oscillator circuit using a tunnel diode VD is shown in Fig. 3.17.
Fig. 3.17. Connection of a tunnel diode as an oscillator
Electrons tunnel through the potential barrier during an extremely short time: 10-3-10-5 ns. Therefore, tunnel diodes do their job especially well at microwave frequencies as high as tens or even hundreds of gigahertz.
Fig. 3.18. Current-voltage characteristic and graphical (circuit) symbol of an inversed diode
If the material used to fabricate a tunnel diode has an impurity concentration of about 1018 cm-3, there will be practically no tunnel current flowing under forward bias, and the current-voltage characteristic will not have a negative-resistance (down-sloping) portion (Fig. 3.18). Such devices have come to be known, quite appropriately, as inversed diodes; they can effectively operate as detectors at far higher frequencies than the usual diodes.
Дата добавления: 2015-11-14; просмотров: 84 | Нарушение авторских прав
<== предыдущая страница | | | следующая страница ==> |
Structures of Semiconductor Diodes | | | Microwave Semiconductor Diodes |