Technological developments evolving from research on read diodes

A brief resume of a research effort which was intended to investigate the basic physical phenomena underlying Read\´s proposal for an avalanching transit-time oscillator is presented. The understanding of the time dependence of the multiplication and the refinement in the silicon technology needed to establish the uniform multiplication for the Read diode prototype are outlined. Multiplication measurements on a uniform junction and the equipment used to make them are presented. Results indicate a uniformity in hole multiplication of better than a factor of 2 at an average implying an electron multiplication of an order of magnitude more. An expression for the admittance and factor for the Read structure for frequencies where the avalanche is not completely inductive and for arbitrary transit angle is included. The equation for the dc current of an avalanching junction correct to the second order in the perturbation of the electric field is presented to explain an anomalous rectification observed in Read structures.