Analysis of semiconductors with field-dependent mobility
Using the time domain analysis of Lagrangian approach, the small-signal behavior of a semiconductor with field-dependent mobility under various contact conditions is analyzed. A generalized closed form solution for an impulse current response is derived when the carrier velocity characteristic is expressed by a piecewise linear function. This result gives an accurate description of the transient performance of the device and can provide good insight into device operation. Numerical examples are given for a negative differential mobility GaAs crystal, considering the conditions under which negative resistances occur. A generalized small-signal impedance of the semiconductor is given, from which previous results reported for particular devices can be obtained as special cases.
Nonlinear space-charge domain dynamics in a semiconductor with negative differential mobility
On a semiphenomenological level, the explanation of the Gunn effect is one in terms of a time-independent, negative differential, bulk conductivity. This mechanism is based on the conduction-band structure of GaAs, which provides for two kinds of electrons, light and heavy ones. Light electrons dominate at low fields, heavy ones at high fields. Since the mobility of the heavy electrons is much lower than that of the light ones, there is a range of current decrease with increasing field, i.e., a negative conductivity. This negative conductivity leads to an electrical breakup of the crystal into alternating traveling domains of high and low fields, accompanied by alternating current. In a "mathematically perfect" crystal this instability would take the form of traveling negatively charged electron accumulation layers, separating the domains of high and low fields. In real crystals the inevitable spatial fluctuations in the impurity distribution lead to the experimentally observed dipole mode, wherein both negatively charged electron accumulation layers and positively charged electron depletion layers occur.
Fully Integrated Bidirectional CMOS-MEMS Flow Sensor With Low Power Pulse Operation
Leveraging More-than-Moore technology, we demonstrate an integrated CMOS MEMS flow sensor via a very compact system on chip (SoC) that can sense the bidirectional N2 gas flow. Our SoC features a very low-noise instrumentation amplifier that is implemented on a CMOS wafer and serves as a readout integrated circuit for a thermoresistive micro-calorimetric flow sensor which is fabricated on a MEMS wafer. A compact heterogeneous integration is achieved by combining the two wafers via the proprietary InvenSense AlN process. The measured sensitivity of our CMOS MEMS flow sensor is 98 mV/sccm which is three times better than the state-of-the-art counterpart. The flow range measured by our SoC is from −26 to 26 m/s (from −50 to 50 sccm). Moreover, the pulsed heater operation makes this proposed SoC flow sensor a very low power (<9 mW) and, thus, a promising candidate for the Internet-of-Things applications in smart home/green buildings.