Microwave oscillation and amplification with complementary silicon avalache diodes

Diffused silicon avalanche diodes for microwave generation and amplification reported to date mostly use a P
⁺
NN
⁺
structure. In this work we have examined the complementary type of silicon avalanche diode, namely, the N
⁺
PP
⁺
structure. We have found that these diodes have displayed greater reproducibility and freedom from microplasma effects when operated in the highpower trapped-plasma mode. Oscillation at S- and C-band of 50 W, and amplification at S-band with 40W output, 13 dB gain, and about 10% band-width has been attained from single diodes using simple microstrip circuits. Harmonic extraction from series connected diodes have produced 150 W at 3.8 GHz.