Techniques for fabrication of germanium and gallium-arsenide tunnel diodes

A technique for fabricating tunnel diodes in both germanium and gallium-arsenide will be presented. Material preparation, alloying, mounting, and etching will be considered in detail. Germanium tunnel diodes with Ip/Ivratio greater than 10 and Ip/C merit factor greater than 5ma/pf, and gallium-arsenide tunnel diodes with Ip/Iv, ratio greater than 40 and Ip/C merit factor greater than 10ma/pf will be considered. Temperature dependence of Ipand Iv, with methods used to stabilize these parameters will be discussed.