Spacer layers’ thickness impact on the resonant-tunneling diode’s and frequency mixer’s operational parameters

Abstract

The impact of spacer layers’ thickness on the resonant-tunneling diode’s (RTD) current-voltage characteristic and operational parameters of the RTD-based subharmonic mixer was studied during the described research using the software package developed by authors to simulate the RTD’s functional parameters while mixer’s parameters were simulated using existing microelectronic CAD. The research has revealed that the main impact on both RTD’s I-V characteristic’s shape and operational parameters of the studied subharmonic mixers is made by the emitter spacer layer’s thickness while the collector spacer’s thickness’ variation is insignificant in both cases. Such, it is shown that by varying the emitter spacer’s thickness from a single monolayer to twice its nominal value it’s possible to alter the RTD’s peak current from 0,28 to 1,92 of its nominal value. spacer layer’s thickness deviation of ±1 monolayer has a noticeable effect on the studied mixer’s operational parameters, especially on its dynamic range.