Impact-ionization wave breakdown and generation of picosecond pulses in the ultrahigh-frequency band in GaAs drift step-recovery diodes

It is shown experimentally for the first time that the operation of GaAs drift step-recovery diodes produced on the basis of p(+)-p(0)-n(0)-n(+) is accompanied by the generation of ultrahigh-frequency oscillations in the form of trains of short pulses with a duration of similar to10 ps. The amplitude and repetition frequency of these pulses are as high as similar to100 V and similar to(10-100) GHz, respectively. The phenomena of delayed reversible wave breakdown and excitation of ultrahigh-frequency oscillations in the structures of GaAs step-recovery diodes are found to open up new avenues for progress both in the physics and technology of semiconductor devices based on GaAs structures and in the technology of ultrahigh-frequency systems and devices that deal with pulsed signals of picosecond-scale duration. (C) 2003 MAIK "Nauka / Interperiodica".