Effect of a d.c. electric field parallel to the depletion layer on the microwave oscillations in a p-i-n IMPATT diode

High frequency properties of a p-i-n IMPATT diode have been analysed when an additional d.c. electric field parallel to the area of the junction and perpendicular to the high electric field caused by reverse biasing the device is established in the space charge layer. The transit time required by the carriers to cross the depletion layer is increased due to the increase in the path length caused by the change in the direction of the resultant field while the velocity of the carriers remain saturated. It is found that the frequency for maximum negative resistance decreases with the increase of the additional d.c. electric field.