A Gunn diode, also known as a transferred electron device (TED), is a form of diode, a two-terminal semiconductor electronic component, with negative differential resistance, used in high-frequency electronics. It is based on the "Gunn effect" discovered in 1962 by physicist J. B. Gunn. Its main uses are in electronic oscillators to generate microwaves, in applications such as radar speed guns, microwave relay data link transmitters, and automatic door openers.
Its internal construction is unlike other diodes in that it consists only of N-doped semiconductor material, whereas most diodes consist of both P and N-doped regions. It, therefore, conducts in both directions and cannot rectify alternating current like other diodes, which is why some sources do not use the term diode but prefer TED. In the Gunn diode, three regions exist: two are heavily N-doped on each terminal, with a thin layer of lightly n-doped material between them. When a voltage is applied to the device, the electrical gradient will be largest across the thin middle layer. If the voltage increases, the layer's current will first increase. Still, eventually, at higher field values, the conductive properties of the middle layer are altered, increasing its resistivity and causing the current to fall. This means a Gunn diode has a region of negative differential resistance in its current–voltage characteristic curve, in which an increase of applied voltage causes a decrease in current. This property allows it to amplify, functioning as a radio frequency amplifier, or to become unstable and oscillate when it is biased with a DC voltage.
A Gunndiode, also known as a transferred electron device (TED), is a form of diode, a two-terminal semiconductor electronic component, with negative...
oscillations (tunnel diodes, Gunndiodes, IMPATT diodes), and to produce light (light-emitting diodes). Tunnel, Gunn and IMPATT diodes exhibit negative resistance...
devices: tunnel diode, resonant tunneling diode and other semiconductor diodes using the tunneling mechanism Gunndiode and other diodes using the transferred...
Schottky diode (named after the German physicist Walter H. Schottky), also known as Schottky barrier diode or hot-carrier diode, is a semiconductor diode formed...
organic light-emitting diode (OLED), also known as organic electroluminescent (organic EL) diode, is a type of light-emitting diode (LED) in which the emissive...
A PIN diode is a diode with a wide, undoped intrinsic semiconductor region between a p-type semiconductor and an n-type semiconductor region. The p-type...
A Zener diode is a special type of diode designed to reliably allow current to flow "backwards" (inverted polarity) when a certain set reverse voltage...
electronics, a varicap diode, varactor diode, variable capacitance diode, variable reactance diode or tuning diode is a type of diode designed to exploit...
the invention of the IMPATT diode in 1956 by W.T. Read and Ralph L. Johnston and the Gunndiode in 1962 by J. B. Gunn. Diodes are the most widely used microwave...
Gunn (surname) Clan Gunn, Highland Scots clan of Norse origin Gunn High School, high school in Palo Alto, California Gunndiode, diode used in high-frequency...
anode by the electric field in the tube. The simplest vacuum tube, the diode (i.e. Fleming valve), was invented in 1904 by John Ambrose Fleming. It contains...
An IMPATT diode (impact ionization avalanche transit-time diode) is a form of high-power semiconductor diode used in high-frequency microwave electronics...
with negative resistance, such as magnetron tubes, tunnel diodes, IMPATT diodes and Gunndiodes. Negative-resistance oscillators are usually used at high...
In electronics, an avalanche diode is a diode (made from silicon or other semiconductor) that is designed to experience avalanche breakdown at a specified...
contain at least two semiconductors (a diode and a transistor, although modern buck converters frequently replace the diode with a second transistor used for...
A photodiode is a semiconductor diode sensitive to photon radiation, such as visible light, infrared or ultraviolet radiation, X-rays and gamma rays....
laser diode (LD, also injection laser diode or ILD or semiconductor laser or diode laser) is a semiconductor device similar to a light-emitting diode in...
barrier diode, commonly known as a Schottky diode. This is included in the table because some silicon power IGFETs have a parasitic reverse Schottky diode formed...
commercial automatic sliding door on the market. With the invention of the Gunndiode, microwave motion detectors became common in automatic doors in the 1970s...
behaviors. Diode, rectifier, diode bridge Schottky diode (hot carrier diode) – super fast diode with lower forward voltage drop Zener diode – allows current...
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