Microwave Devices VII

ECE402 Microwave Engineering

Lecture 40
 BARITT Diode
BARrier Injected Transit-Time (BARITT) diode belongs to the
class of Transit - Time Devices that works on the principle of
thermionic emission

They have low noise levels of the order of 15 dB, in comparison to

IMPATT, TRAPATT or Gunn diodes

They suffer from narrow bandwidth and low output powers

The frequency of operation is low due to slow thermal injection of

charge carries.

The overall power output is also low as the initial phase of charge
injection follows positive resistance, thereby taking away energy from
input bias

1
 BARITT Diode

It consists of a n region sandwiched between two heavily doped p

regions. Or alternately a n region sandwiched between two metal
contacts, forming Schottky barrier

When a d.c. voltage is applied with the plus on the left hand contact,
the right hand depletion layer will widen but the device draws no
current. This goes on until the two depletion layers meet, a situation
2 called reach-through or punch-through.
 BARITT Diode

The electric field rises steadily from

the injecting contact to the other one
while the carrier density decreases
simultaneously. One may then assume
that near the injecting contact the main
factors governing carrier transport will
be thermionic injection and diffusion
whereas in the region of higher field
strength the electric field will be
dominant

3
 BARITT Diode

I The contact region

where thermionic
injection prevails. This
region lies between the
injecting contact and
the point of zero
electric field (potential
maximum)

II The diffusion region where carrier transport is by diffusion mainly.

This region stretches from the potential maximum to a point where the
d.c. field has risen to such a value that diffusion may be neglected.
Necessarily the choice of this point will be somewhat arbitrary.
III The drift region, comprising the rest of the diode, where the electric
4 field is dominant
 BARITT Diode

Voltage and
current are out
of phase