Transient ionizing radiation effects on BARITT diode oscillators

The performance of a variety of BARITT diode oscillators has been measured under transient ionizing radiation conditions. Two to five milliwatt CW silicon diode oscillators (Schottky and diffused injecting junctions) were exposed to 100 nanosecond pulses of 10 MeV electrons at dose rates between 10 million and 10 billion rads/sec. With these oscillators, the RF power is reduced at increasing dose rates and is quenched entirely during the radiation pulse at a dose rate dependent upon junction characteristics. The RF power remains quenched after the radiation pulse for approximately 500 nanoseconds in some diodes due to charge storage. The charge storage is related to the injection efficiency of the injecting contact, increasing in duration as the injection efficiency increases. Besides this temporary stored charge, no aftereffects were observed in any of the diodes.