Semiconductor Structures for 100 GHz Silicon IMPATT Diodes

Single Drift double drift and quasi Read double drift (QRDDR) silicon IMPATT diodes for CW operation are compared. It is shown that for high power generation efficient semiconductor structures have to be developed. A theoretical design study predicts an efficiency of 14.1 % for the QRDDR diode at 94 GHz. Experimental investigations are performed with diodes the active layers of which are grown by Si-MBE. The results confirm the predicted differences between the structures: The QRDDR diodes deliver the highest efficiency (up to 11 %) and the highest output power: 910 mW.