A Green's function analysis of Schottky barrier diodes in strip-coupled transversal signal processing architectures

Theoretical and experimental results on Schottky barrier diodes in strip-coupled transversal signal processing architectures are presented. The need for a semiinsulating substrate for efficient SAW (surface acoustic wave) transduction and effective isolation of active circuit elements from one another, together with the need for high spatial sampling rates, is discussed. In ACT (acoustic charge transport) devices, the SAW used for transport of charge biases these Schottky diodes such that the diodes are laterally isolated from one another. This results in a strong dependence of nonlinear efficiency on both frequency and diode length. Substantial effects of DC bias on diode efficiency, and hence on convolver efficiency, are observed in ACT-based architectures, due to the bias induced by the clocking signal(s) present in such devices.<>