Fabrication and thermal performance of a novel TRAPATT diode structure

The development of TRAPATT diodes for long-pulse operation (10 to 100 µs), high duty cycle (1 to 15 percent), and wide bandwidth (12 percent), for phase array systems at
F
band requires new device fabrication and new heat-sinking technology. A novel TRAPATT diode in the form of interconnected long strips having high periphery-to-area ratio (cruciform) has been designed and fabricated. In this paper we described the thermal properties of the cruciform structure diode, which sustains 50-µs pulse width at 5.5-percent duty cycle while delivering 68-W RF power at 5-dB gain and 9-percent added efficiency, in addition to 100-µs pulse width at 4.2-percent duty cycle while delivering 50-W RF power output ast 3.6-dB and 5.5-percent added efficiency, both as narrow-band amplifier.