Element, and oscillator and information acquiring device including the element

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9899959-B2
Application number	US-201615151765-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 11, 2016
Priority date	May 22, 2015
Publication date	Feb 20, 2018
Grant date	Feb 20, 2018

Abstract

An element, including: a first conductor layer extending in a first direction; a second conductor layer extending in the first direction; and a semiconductor disposed between the first and second conductor layers, the semiconductor including: a first semiconductor layer in contact with the first conductor layer; a second semiconductor layer in contact with the second conductor layer; and an active layer disposed between the first and second semiconductor layers, in which: the semiconductor has a width of 0.5 μm or more and 5 μm or less in a direction intersecting the first and second directions, and has a thickness of 0.1 μm or more and 1.0 μm or less in the second direction; the active layer includes a double-barrier resonant tunnel diode; and each of the two barrier layers has a thickness of 0.7 nm or more and 2.0 nm or less in the second direction.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An element comprising:
a first conductor layer extending in a first direction;
a second conductor layer extending in the first direction; and
a semiconductor disposed between the first conductor layer and the second conductor layer,
the semiconductor comprising:
a first semiconductor layer in contact with the first conductor layer;
a second semiconductor layer in contact with the second conductor layer; and
an active layer disposed between the first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer,

wherein, when a second direction represents a direction in which the first semiconductor layer, the active layer, and the second semiconductor layer are arranged:
the semiconductor has a width of 0.5 μm or more and 5 μm or less in a direction intersecting the first direction and the second direction, and has a thickness of 0.1 μm or more and 1.0 μm or less in the second direction;
the active layer comprises a double-barrier resonant tunnel diode including two barrier layers; and
each of the two barrier layers of the double-barrier resonant tunnel diode has a thickness of 0.7 nm or more and 2.0 nm or less in the second direction.

2. The element according to claim 1 , wherein the semiconductor has a thickness of 0.2 μm or more and 1.0 μm or less in the second direction.

3. The element according to claim 1 , wherein each of a contact resistance between the first conductor layer and the semiconductor and a contact resistance between the second conductor layer and the semiconductor is in a range of 1 Ωμm 2 or more and 10 Ωμm 2 or less.

4. The element according to claim 1 , wherein, in a frequency range of 0.1 THz or more and 2.0 THz or less, a gain given by the double-barrier resonant tunnel diode is larger than a loss in the element.

5. The element according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first conductor layer and the second conductor layer includes one of a metal plate and a substrate having a metal film formed on a surface thereof.

6. The element according to claim 1 , wherein:
a shape of at least one of the first conductor layer and the second conductor layer is different from a shape of the semiconductor in a plane defined by the first direction and a direction of the width;
a contact area between the first conductor layer and the semiconductor is 70% or more and 100% or less of an area of the double-barrier resonant tunnel diode in the plane; and
change in propagation constant of the element due to the difference in shape is 50% or less compared to a case where the first conductor layer and the semiconductor have the same shape.

7. The element according to claim 1 , wherein:
at least one of the first conductor layer and the second conductor layer has a T-shaped section along a plane intersecting the first direction; and
the T-shaped section includes a narrow bottom portion in contact with the semiconductor and a wide top portion on a side opposite to the narrow bottom portion.

8. The element according to claim 1 , further comprising wiring for use to apply a bias voltage,
wherein the wiring and the first conductor layer are connected to each other at a node of a resonant standing wave of a microstrip including the first conductor layer, the second conductor layer, and the semiconductor.

9. An oscillator, which is configured to oscillate an electromagnetic wave at a frequency of 0.1 THz or more and 2.0 THz or less, the oscillator comprising:
an element comprising:
a first conductor layer extending in a first direction;
a second conductor layer extending in the first direction; and
a semiconductor disposed between the first conductor layer and the second conductor layer,
the semiconductor comprising:
a first semiconductor layer in contact with the first conductor layer;
a second semiconductor layer in contact with the second conductor layer; and
an active layer disposed between the first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer,

wherein, when a second direction represents a direction in which the first semiconductor layer, the active layer, and the second semiconductor layer are arranged:
the semiconductor has a width of 0.5 μm or more and 5 μm or less in a direction intersecting the first direction and the second direction, and has a thickness of 0.1 μm or more and 1.0 μm or less in the second direction;
the active layer comprises a double-barrier resonant tunnel diode including two barrier layers; and
each of the two barrier layers of the double-barrier resonant tunnel diode has a thickness of 0.7 nm or more and 2.0 nm or less in the second direction; and

a resonance structure configured to resonate an electromagnetic wave in the first direction.

10. An information acquiring device, which is configured to acquire information on a subject, the information acquiring device comprising:
an oscillator configured to emit an electromagnetic wave toward the subject; and
a detector configured to detect an electromagnetic wave from the subject,
the oscillator being configured to oscillate an electromagnetic wave at a frequency of 0.1 THz or more and 2.0 THz or less, the oscillator comprising:
an element comprising:
a first conductor layer extending in a first direction;
a second conductor layer extending in the first direction; and
a semiconductor disposed between the first conductor layer and the second conductor layer,
the semiconductor comprising:
a first semiconductor layer in contact with the first conductor layer;
a second semiconductor layer in contact with the second conductor layer; and
an active layer disposed between the first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer,

wherein, when a second direction represents a direction in which the first semiconductor layer, the active layer, and the second semiconductor layer are arranged:
the semiconductor has a width of 0.5 μm or more and 5 μm or less in a direction intersecting the first direction and the second direction, and has a thickness of 0.1 μm or more and 1.0 μm or less in the second direction;
the active layer comprises a double-barrier resonant tunnel diode including two barrier layers; and
each of the two barrier layers of the double-barrier resonant tunnel diode has a thickness of 0.7 nm or more and 2.0 nm or less in the second direction; and

a resonance structure configured to resonate an electromagnetic wave in the first direction.

11. An oscillator, which is configured to oscillate an electromagnetic wave at a frequency of 0.1 THz or more and 2.0 THz or less, the oscillator comprising:
a gain portion; and
an antenna configured to resonate an electromagnetic wave,
the gain portion comprising:
an element comprising:
a first conductor layer extending in a first direction;
a second conductor layer extending in the first direction; and
a semiconductor disposed between the first conductor layer and the second conductor layer,
the semiconductor comprising:
a first semiconductor layer in contact with the first conductor layer;
a second semiconductor layer in contact with the second conductor layer; and
an active layer disposed between the first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer,

wherein, when a second direction represents a direction in which the first semiconductor layer, the active layer, and the second semiconductor layer are arranged:
the semiconductor has a width of 0.5 μm or more and 5 μm or less in a direction intersecting the first direction and the second direction, and has a thickness of 0.1 μm or more and 1.0 μm or less in the second direction;
the active layer comprises a double-barrier resonant tunnel diode including two barrier layers; and
each of the two

Assignees

• Canon Kk

Inventors

• Feiginov Michael
• Koyama Yasushi

Classifications

• H10W44/248

  for antennas · CPC title

• H10W44/216

  Waveguides, e.g. strip lines · CPC title

• H10W44/20

  at high-frequency [HF] or radio frequency [RF] · CPC title

• H01L2223/6627

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H03B7/12

  with frequency-determining element comprising distributed inductance and capacitance · CPC title