Simulation of GaAs p-i-n diodes

GaAs p-i-n diodes have been modeled using numerical simulation, and the theoretical results have been compared to those of experiment. The simulations predict that with a lifetime of the carriers of 10^(-7)s, devices that have good i-layer modulation may be built. This is in agreement with currently available commercial devices

High-power microstrip switch

Switch, which uses only two p-i-n diodes on microstrip substrate, has been developed for application in spacecraft radio systems. Switch features improved power drain, weight, volume, magnetic cleanliness, and reliability, over currently-used circulator and electromechanical switches

On the effect of nano-injectors on conduction in silicon p-i-n diodes

P–i–n diodes are widely used in power electronics [1-2], solar cells [3], light detection [4] and also light generation [5]. Contrary to the case of light detection or conversion, light generation is usually achieved by biasing the device in forward mode, in a condition of carrier injection. Depending on its level, the device can operate in regimes controlled by respectively generation/recombination current, diffusion current or the so called series resistance [6]. The injection level also controls the balance between the recombination mechanisms, and it is commonly controlled via the applied bias, which could be fixed by the specific application rather then being a free parameter. A possible approach to better control the injection level is to modify the features of the carrier injectors, for instance by thinning down the junction area [7] or reducing the injectors itself to a nanometer scale [8]. A practical way to realize nano-injectors is to embed the intrinsic region in oxide and create the connection between the intrinsic region and the two extension regions via antifuses, as realized in [9]. The size and properties of the antifuses can be controlled electrically, making it suitable to analyze the effects of progressive scaling of the dimensions of carrier injectors. In this work, we compare electrical behaviors of a standard p-i-n diode with antifuse p-i-n diodes programmed at different conditions. Electrical I-V measurements are performed at temperatures between -20 and 200 °C (I-V-T characteristics) in order to investigate the dominant mechanisms in the conduction

Simulation of GaAs p-i-n diodes

GaAs p-i-n diodes have been modeled using numerical simulation, and the theoretical results have been compared to those of experiment. The simulations predict that with a lifetime of the carriers of 10^(-7)s, devices that have good i-layer modulation may be built. This is in agreement with currently available commercial devices

Superinjection of holes in homojunction diodes based on wide-bandgap semiconductors

Electrically driven light sources are essential in a wide range of applications, from indication and display technologies to high-speed data communication and quantum information processing. Wide-bandgap semiconductors promise to advance solid-state lighting by delivering novel light sources. However, electrical pumping of these devices is still a challenging problem. Many wide-bandgap semiconductor materials, such as SiC, GaN, AlN, ZnS, and Ga2O3, can be easily doped n-type, but their efficient p-type doping is extremely difficult. The lack of holes due to the high activation energy of acceptors greatly limits the performance and practical applicability of wide-bandgap semiconductor devices. Here, we study a novel effect which allows homojunction semiconductors devices, such as p-i-n diodes, to operate well above the limit imposed by doping of the p-type material. Using a rigorous numerical approach, we show that the density of injected holes can exceed the density of holes in the p-type injection layer by up to three orders of magnitude, which gives the possibility to significantly overcome the doping problem. We present a clear physical explanation of this unexpected feature of wide-bandgap semiconductor p-i-n diodes and closely examine it in 4H-SiC, 3C-SiC, AlN and ZnS structures. The predicted effect can be exploited to develop bright light emitting devices, especially electrically driven non-classical light sources based on color centers in SiC, AlN, ZnO and other wide-bandgap semiconductors.Comment: 6 figure

An Improved Physics-Based Formulation of the Microwave p-i-n Diode Impedance

International audienceAn improved formulation of the frequency-dependent impedance for p-i-n diodes from physical and geometrical parameters is presented. This work is addressed to diode designers and allows them to evaluate quickly and accurately the diode impedance. It comes in parallel with existing SPICE p-i-n diode model [1] used in CAD software. Under forward bias conditions, important recombinations occur in the heavily doped end regions of thin p-i-n diodes that seriously affects the diode impedance. This effect is taken into account to increase the accuracy of existing numerical models and to extend their validity domain to any I-region thicknesses. This improvement has been validated by measurement results on a 5- m I-region width silicon p-i-n diode

Field dependence of impact ionization coefficients in In0.53Ga0.47As

Electron and hole ionization coefficients in In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As are deduced from mixed carrier avalanche photomultiplication measurements on a series of p-i-n diode layers, eliminating other effects that can lead to an increase in photocurrent with reverse bias. Low field ionization is observed for electrons but not for holes, resulting in a larger ratio of ionization coefficients, even at moderately high electric fields than previously reported. The measured ionization coefficients are marginally lower than those of GaAs for fields above 250 kVcm/sup -1/, supporting reports of slightly higher avalanche breakdown voltages in In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As than in GaAs p-i-n diodes

Температурные свойства полупроводниковых резонансных структур с электронным управлением

Розглянуто p-i-n діоди як багатошарові електродинамічні системи. Показано, що в таких системах можливе виникнення електромагнітного резонансу E-типу. На основі цього підходу отримано аналітичні вирази для оцінювання температурних залежностей параметрів таких приладів. Експериментально досліджено температурні властивості резонансних систем на основі p-i-n діодів, виготовлених із кремнію та арсеніду галію, а саме залежність резонансної частоти і власної добротності від температури в міліметровому діапазоні довжин хвиль. Показано доцільність використання p-i-n діодів як керованих резонансних структур у надвисокочастотному діапазоні.The p-i-n diodes as multilayer electromagnetic systems are considered. It is shown that in such systems may experience electromagnetic E-type resonance. Using this approach, analytical expressions for the evaluation of the temperature dependence of the parameters of such devices are obtained. The temperature properties of resonant systems on the base of Si and GaAs p-i-n diodes, namely the dependence of resonant frequency and unloaded Q-factor from temperature at millimeter wavelengths are experimentally studied. The expediency of the use of p-i-n diodes as controlled resonant structures in the UHF range is shown.Рассмотрены p-i-n диоды как многослойные электродинамические системы. Показано, что в таких системах возможно возникновение электромагнитного резонанса E-типа. На основе данного подхода получены аналитические выражения для оценки температурных зависимостей параметров таких приборов. Экспериментально исследованы температурные свойства резонансных систем на основе p-i-n диодов, изготовленных из кремния и арсенида галлия, а именно зависимость резонансной частоты и собственной добротности от температуры в миллиметровом диапазоне длин волн. Показана целесообразность использования p-i-n диодов как управляемых резонансных структур в сверхвысокочастотном диапазоне

Theory of coherent acoustic phonons in InGaN/GaN multi-quantum wells

A microscopic theory for the generation and propagation of coherent LA phonons in pseudomorphically strained wurzite (0001) InGaN/GaN multi-quantum well (MQW) p-i-n diodes is presented. The generation of coherent LA phonons is driven by photoexcitation of electron-hole pairs by an ultrafast Gaussian pump laser and is treated theoretically using the density matrix formalism. We use realistic wurzite bandstructures taking valence-band mixing and strain-induced piezo- electric fields into account. In addition, the many-body Coulomb ineraction is treated in the screened time-dependent Hartree-Fock approximation. We find that under typical experimental conditions, our microscopic theory can be simplified and mapped onto a loaded string problem which can be easily solved.Comment: 20 pages, 17 figure