Planar doped barrier mixer and detector diodes as alternatives to Schottky diodes for both microwave and millimetre wave applications

Planar doped barrier (PDB) diodes with extremely low barrier heights and highly asymmetric I-V characteristics have been developed using MBE (molecular-beam epitaxy)-grown GaAs material. The authors report on the RF performance of these devices and discuss the significant advantages offered by PDB devices over conventional Schottky diodes for mixer and detector applications at both microwave and millimeter-wave frequencies. These advantages include reduced mixer driver levels, reduced low-frequency-noise generation, improved detector tangential sensitivity and general reliability improvements as a result of the burnout performance.<>