ABSTRACT

After a long wait we finally arrive at our first device structure . If you look at the standard layout of most device texts you will see that the Gunn diode is usually considered much later on, so why am I looking at it at this stage? There are several very good reasons. Firstly, you now have enough physics background to understand the underlying mechanisms of this device. Secondly, I consider this one of the simpler devices to understand; the p-n junction is not a simple device to understand, although it's often the first to be dealt with in standard texts. The only other simple device I can think of off-hand is the photoconductor, which we shall look at in Chapter 7. What I would really like you to get out of this chapter are two things. One, the feeling that had you been around at the time, then maybe you could have figured out the device physics for yourself. Two, that the seemingly remote pure physics we have been looking at up until now really does have applications in the semiconductor industry.