An AlGaAs/GaAs‐based planar Gunn diode oscillator with a fundamental frequency operation of 120 GHz

Abstract

This letter reports the highest fundamental oscillator operating frequency of 120 GHz for gallium arsenide (GaAs)‐based Gunn diode. The letter describes the design, fabrication, and test of the aluminum gallium arsenide (AlGaAs)/(GaAs) planar Gunn diode with an anode to cathode separation of 1 μm and channel width of 120 μm. The planar Gunn diode was designed with an integrated series inductor in coplanar waveguide format. The experimental results showed that the planar Gunn diode oscillated at a fundamental frequency of 120.47 GHz with an RF output power −9.14 dBm. This is highest fundamental frequency and power recorded for a GaAs‐based Gunn diode. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 56:2449–2451, 2014

Experimentally estimated dead space for GaAs and InP based planar Gunn diodes

“…The calculated expected transit oscillation frequencies using equation (1) for the different active channel lengths for both the Al 0.23 Ga 0.77 As and In 0.53 Ga 0.47 As based planar Gunn diodes are given in table 1. The calculation was made assuming the domain velocity was 1 × 10 5 m sec −1 for Al 0.23 Ga 0.77 As [3,6] and 2.25 × 10 5 m sec −1 [7] for In 0.53 Ga 0.47 As.…”

“…In recent years planar Gunn diode technology has improved enabling operation in the higher milli-metric and low terahertz regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Al 0.23 Ga 0.77 As based planar Gunn diodes with an anode to cathode separation of 1 μm have shown the highest fundamental operational frequency of 121 GHz recorded for a Al 0.23 Ga 0.77 As based Gunn diode; the RF output power was −9.3 dBm [6].Very recently Khalid et al [7] published results for a In 0.53 Ga 0.47 As based Gunn diode fabricated on lattice matched InP substrate showing an operational fundamental frequency of 298 GHz with an RF output power of −25 dBm. The anode to cathode separation was 0.6 μm and represented the first sub-micron planar Gunn diode.…”

A 270-GHz Push-Push Transformer-Based Oscillator Adopting Power Leakage Suppression Technique

“…Compound semiconductor technology is one of the candidate technologies for THz source development due to its high maximum oscillation frequency ( f max ) property. Gunn Diodes based THz oscillator have been reported in [22][23][24][25]. However, these oscillators are only capable to generate output power less than −9 dBm with lower than 0.05% of DC-to-RF efficiency.…”