Large-signal characterizations of DDR IMPATT devices based on group Ⅲ-Ⅴ semiconductors at millimeter-wave and terahertz frequencies

Large-signal （L-S） characterizations of double-drift region （DDR） impact avalanche transit time （IM- PATT） devices based on group III-V semiconductors such as wurtzite （Wz） GaN, GaAs and InP have been carried out at both millimeter-wave （mm-wave） and terahertz （THz） frequency bands. A L-S simulation technique based on a non-sinusoidal voltage excitation （NSVE） model developed by the authors has been used to obtain the high frequency properties of the above mentioned devices. The effect of band-to-band tunneling on the L-S properties of the device at different mm-wave and THz frequencies are also investigated. Similar studies are also carried out for DDR IMPATTs based on the most popular semiconductor material, i.e. Si, for the sake of comparison. A compara- tive study of the devices based on conventional semiconductor materials （i.e. GaAs, InP and Si） with those based on Wz-GaN shows significantly better performance capabilities of the latter at both mm-wave and THz frequencies.