Feasibility of Gunn effect planar triodes for high speed electronics

Planar Gunn devices with a Schottky trigger grid, operating in dynamical dipolar mode, were made in various geometries by vapor phase epitaxy of Ga-As-N on GaAs. The N layer characteristics at 2 micron thickness were optimized to obtain a good pulse shaping with rise times lower than 100 picoseconds and low power consumption (70 to 250 mW at rest). Simple theoretical models can be used to forecast static and dynamic characteristics. The devices presented are shown to be useful for data transfers at rates higher than two Gbits/sec. A nondestructive characterization method, a test procedure, and a fabrication methodology are described.