The energy characteristics of the Gunn diodes on the basis of In xGa1-xAs with blocking of the metal cathode contact

There are some ways of increasing the frequency limit of operation and efficiency of generation by Gunn diodes. There is a search for new semiconductor materials, which can be used as a material for transit electron devices (TED) and Gunn diodes in the resonant-transit mode, which allows them to achieve acceptable values of efficiency of generation at frequencies, some times exceeding the transit frequency. An important factor influencing the high-frequency limit of operation of Gunn diodes is the type of cathode contact, which appreciably determines the area initial heating of electron (AIHE) at the cathode. Previously the possibility of generation by Gunn diodes on the basis of In_x Ga_1-xAs material with a homogeneous structure of the active area of the diode and with high-resistance heterogeneity at the cathode has been investigated and the perspective use of this semiconductor material for Gunn diodes was shown. Also it has been shown that the perspective use of a metal cathode contact (especially for generation of frequency at the second harmonic), allows substantially reduced AIHE at the cathode and by that increases the efficiency of generation by the diodes. The purpose of the present work is to investigate the influence of the blocking metal cathode contact on the power and frequency characteristics of the Gunn diodes based on In_x Ga_1-xAs material