Diamond Based DDR IMPATTs: Prospects and Potentiality as Millimeter-Wave Source at 94 GHz Atmospheric Window

Abstract

Large-signal simulation is carried out in this paper to investigate the prospects and potentiality of Double-Drift Region (DDR) Impact Avalanche Transit Time (IMPATT) device based on semiconducting type-IIb diamond as millimeter-wave source operating at 94 GHz atmospheric window frequency. Large-signal simulation method developed by the authors and presented in this paper is based on non-sinusoidal voltage excitation. The simulation is carried out to obtain the large-signal characteristics such as RF power output, DC to RF conversion efficiency etc. of DDR diamond IMPATT device designed to operate at 94 GHz. The results show that the device is capable of delivering a peak RF power output of 7.01 W with 10.18% DC to RF conversion efficiency for a bias current density of 6.0×10^8 A m-2 and voltage modulation of 60% at 94 GHz; whereas for the same voltage modulation 94 GHz DDR Si IMPATT can deliver only 693.82 mW RF power with 8.74 efficiency for the bias current density of 3.4×10^8 A m-2.