A STUDY OF VARIABLE I-REGION THICKNESS EFFECTS

ON PIN DIODE SWITCHING SPEED

PROJECT LEADER:

WARSUZARINA BlNTl MAT JUBADI

CO-RESEARCHERS:

MAZITA BlNTl MOHAMAD

ROSNAH BlNTl MOHD ZIN

NABIAH BINTI ZINAL

FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH GRANT SCHEME (VOT 0559)

UNlVERSlTl TUN HUSSEIN ONN MALAYSIA

ABSTRACT

The PIN diodes are widely used in RF, UHF and microwave circuits as it acts as a current

controlled resistor at these frequencies. PIN diode performance is greatly influenced by the

geometrical size of the device, especially in the intrinsic region. The change in geometry in

the intrinsic will result the differences the most important parameters value of the PIN diode

including the carrier lifetime and transit time kequency. In this research, the switchmg speed

performance of PIN diode with different I-region layer thickness, W, is analyzed to study

their correlation. A PIN diode structure has been designed in the Sentaums Technology

Computer Aided Design (TCAD) tools.The I-layer thickness (or width) is varied from 5pm to

1 0 0 ~ to investigate its effects on the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics and a few other

important parameters have been extracted. These parameters are used to analyze the

switching speed performance of the Silicon (Si) PIN diode. The study is validated by theory

calculation as well as experimental work using practical diode with driver circuit.

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