A theory for high-efficiency oscillations in gallium arsenide avalanche diodes

Abstract

An analytic theory is presented for high-efficiency microwave oscillations in gallium arsenide avalanche diodes by extending an approach similar to that of DeLoach and Scharfetter for silicon, and incorporating realistic approximations for the velocity field profiles and the ionization coefficients of the carriers. In gallium arsenide the electrons have a negative differential mobility over a certain range of electric field values, and this is found to be an important effect necessitating the inclusion of a diffusion mechanism in some cases. The two structures n+-p-p+ and p+-n-n+ differ considerably and are treated separately.