For over 40-Gbps optical communication systems, phase coded modulation formats, like differential phase shift keying (DPSK) and quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), are very important for signal frequency efficiency and long-reach transmission. In such systems, differential receivers which regenerate phase signals are key components. Dual Photo Diodes (dual PDs) are key semiconductor devices which determine the receiver performance. Each PD of the dual PDs should realize high speed performance, high responsibility and high input power operation capability. Highly symmetrical characteristics between the two PDs should be also realized, thus the dual PDs are desired to be monolithically integrated to one chip. In this paper, we describe the design, fabrication, characteristics and reliability of monolithically integrated dual evanescently coupled waveguide photodiodes (EC-WG-PDs) for the purpose described above. The structure of the EC-WG-PDs offers the attractive advantages of high speed performance, high responsivity and high input power operation. Furthermore, their fabrication process is suitable for the integration of two PDs on one ship. First, the optimization was done for high products of 3-dB bandwidth and responsivity for 43-Gbps DPSK receivers. Excellent characteristics (50 GHz bandwidth with a responsivity of 0.95 A/W), and high reliability were demonstrated. The other type of optimization was done for ultra high speed operation up to 100-Gbps. The fabricated PDs exhibited the 3 dB-bandwidth of 80 GHz with a responsivity of 0.25 A/W. Furthermore, 43-Gbps RZ-DPSK receivers including the dual EC-WG-PDs based on the former optimization and differential transimpedance amplifiers (TIAs) newly developed for the purpose were also presented. Clear and symmetrical eye openings were observed for both ports. The OSNR characteristics exhibited 14.3 dB at a bit error rate of 10-3 that is able to be recovery with FEC. These performances are enough for practical use in 43-Gbps RZ-DPSK systems.

Ambient light sensors have been used to reduce power consumption of Active Matrix Liquid Crystal Displays (AMLCD) adjusting display brightness depending on ambient illumination. Discrete sensors have been commonly used for this purpose. They make module design complex. Therefore it has been required to integrate the sensors on the display panels for solving the issue. So far, many kinds of integrated sensors have been developed using Amorphous Silicon (a-Si) technology or Low Temperature Polycrystalline Silicon (LTPS) technology. These conventional integrated sensors have two problems. One is that LTPS sensors have less dynamic range due to the less photosensitivity of LTPS photodiodes. The other is that both the LTPS and a-Si sensors are susceptible to display driving noises. In this paper, we introduce a novel integrated sensor using both LTPS and a-Si technologies, which can solve these problems. It consists of vertical a-Si Schottky photodiodes and an LTPS differential converter circuit. The a-Si photodiodes have much higher photosensitivity than LTPS ones, and this contributes to wide dynamic range and high accuracy. The LTPS differential converter circuit converts photocurrent of the photodiodes to a robust digital signal. In addition it has a function of canceling the influences of the display driving noises. With the circuit, the sensor can stably and accurately work even under the noises. The performance of the sensor introduced in this paper was measured to verify the advantages of the novel design. The measurement result showed that it worked in a wide ambient illuminance range of 5-55,000 lux with small errors of below 5%. It was also verified that it stably and accurately worked even under the display driving noise. Thus the sensor introduced in this paper achieved the wide dynamic range and noise robustness.

A third order harmonic oscillator has been proposed based on the resonant tunneling diode pair oscillators. This oscillator has significant advantages, good stability of the oscillation frequency against the load impedance change together with capability to output higher frequencies. Proper circuit operation has been demonstrated using circuit simulations. It has been also shown that the output frequency is stable against the load impedance change.

A unipolar n-n heterostrucuture diode is developed in the InP material system. The electronic barrier is formed by a saw tooth type of conduction band bending which consists of a quaternary In0.52(AlyGa1-y)0.48As layer with 0 < y < ymax. This barrier is lattice matched for all y to InP and is embedded between two n+-InGaAs layers. By varying the maximum Al-content from ymax,1 = 0.7 to ymax,2 = 1 a variable barrier height is formed which enables a diode-type I-V characteristic by epitaxial design with an adjustable current density within 3 orders of magnitude. The high current density of the diode with the lower barrier height (ymax,1 = 0.7) makes it suitable for high frequency applications at low signal levels. RF measurements reveal a speed index of 52 ps/V at VD = 0.15 V. The device is investigated for RF-to-DC power conversion in UHF RFID transponders with low-amplitude RF signals.

We derive physics-based formula of current-voltage characteristic for resonant tunneling diodes (RTDs) by using the Voigt function. The Voigt function describes the mixing condition of homogeneous and inhomogeneous broadenings of peak energy width in transmission probability, which is sensitively reflected to nonlinear negative differential resistance of RTDs. The obtained formula is applicable to the SPICE model of RTD without performing numerical integrals. We indicate validity of the formula by comparing to measured data for double-barrier and triple-barrier RTDs.

A new pixel design and driving method for active matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) displays that use low-temperature polycrystalline silicon thin-film transistors (LTPS-TFTs) with a voltage programming method are proposed and verified using the SPICE simulator. We had employed an appropriate TFT model in SPICE simulation to demonstrate the performance of the pixel circuit. The OLED anode voltage variation error rates are below 0.35% under driving TFT threshold voltage deviation (Δ Vth = 0.33 V). The OLED current non-uniformity caused by the OLED threshold voltage degradation (Δ VTO = +0.33 V) is significantly reduced (below 6%). The simulation results show that the pixel design can improve the display image non-uniformity by compensating for the threshold voltage deviation in the driving TFT and the OLED threshold voltage degradation at the same time.

We fabricated and examined current limiting effect for InP Gunn diodes with stable depletion layer mode operation of diodes for high efficiency Gunn oscillators. Current limiting at the cathode was achieved by a shallow Schottky barrier at the interface. We discussed fabrication procedure, the results for negative differential resistance and rf tests for InP Gunn diodes. It was shown that the fabricated Gunn diodes have the output power of 10.22 dBm at a frequency of 90.13 GHz. Its input voltage and corresponding current were 8.55 V and 252 mA, respectively.

We designed and fabricated 4H-SiC PIN avalanche photodiodes (APD) for UV detection. The thickness of an intrinsic layer in a PIN structure was optimized in order to achieve the highest quantum efficiency at the wavelength of interest. The optimized 4H-SiC PIN APDs exhibited a maximum external quantum efficiency of >80% at the wavelength of 280 nm and a gain greater than 40000. Both electrical and optical characteristics of the fabricated APDs were in agreement with those predicted from simulation.

Electrical characteristics of P3HT/Aluminum organic/ inorganic heterojunction diodes were investigated V-I and capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements. The V-I measurement exhibited current rectification inherent in the Schottky diode, suggesting their availabilities as rectification diodes in organic flexible circuits. C-V analysis indicated the fact that the depletion layer was generated in the P3HT film in the reversed bias condition. The flat band voltage analysis suggested that the interfacial charge affected the built-in potential of the diodes. Al/P3HT heterojunction is possible to be used as not only the rectification diodes but also gate junctions for junction type field effect or static induction transistors.

An improved nonlinear circuit model for a GaAs Gunn diode in an oscillator is proposed based on the physical mechanism of the diode. This model interprets the nonlinear harmonic character on the Gunn diode. Its equivalent nonlinear circuit of which can assist in the design of the Gunn oscillator and help in the analysis of the fundamental and harmonic characteristics of the GaAs Gunn diode. The simulation prediction and the experiment of the Gunn oscillator show the feasibility of the nonlinear circuit model for the GaAs Gunn oscillator.

A novel method for tailoring the beam profile of laser diodes that employs Lloyd's mirror interference is investigated. The beam profile in the vertical direction is controlled by inserting a GaAs mirror below the active layer. The experimentally obtained trends are successfully modeled by numerical calculations using Huygens' integral.

This paper describes the recent advances in semiconductor photodiodes for use in ultra-high-speed optical systems. We developed two types of waveguide photodiodes (WG-PD) -- an evanescently coupled waveguide photodiode (EC-WG-PD) and a separated-absorption-and-multiplication waveguide avalanche photodiode (WG-APD). The EC-WG-PD is very robust under high optical input operation because of its distribution of photo current density along the light propagation. The EC-WG-PD simultaneously exhibited a high external quantum efficiency of 70% for both 1310 and 1550 nm, and a wide bandwidth of more than 40 GHz. The WG-APD, on the other hand, has a wide bandwidth of 36.5 GHz and a gain-bandwidth product of 170 GHz as a result of its small waveguide mesa structure and a thin multiplication layer. Record high receiver sensitivity of -19.6 dBm at 40 Gbps was achieved. Additionally, a monolithically integrated dual EC-WG-PD for differential phase shift-keying (DPSK) systems was developed. Each PD has equivalent characteristics with 3-dB-down bandwidth of more than 40 GHz and external quantum efficiency of 70% at 1550 nm.

A PN junction current model for advanced MOSFETs is proposed and implemented into HiSIM2, a complete surface-potential-based MOSFET model. The model includes forward diode currents and reverse diode currents, and requires a total of 13 model parameters covering all bias conditions. Model simulation results reproduce measurements for different device geometries over a wide range of bias and temperature values.

In this paper, active frequency selective surfaces (FSS) having a squared aperture with a metal plate loading are described. Active FSS elements using switched PIN diodes are discussed with an equivalent circuit model. A unit cell consists of a square aperture element with metal island loading and one PIN diode placed at the upper gap, considering the vertical polarization. The electromagnetic properties of the active FSS structure are changed by applying dc bias to the substrate, and they can be estimated by the equivalent circuit model of the FSS structure and PIN diode. This active FSS design enables transmission to be switched on or off at 2.3 GHz, providing high transmission when the diodes are in an off state and high isolation when the diodes are on. The equivalent circuit model in the structure is investigated by analyzing transmission and reflection spectra. Measurements on active FSS are compared with numerical calculations. The experimentally observed frequency responses are also scrutinized.

This paper represents a novel second harmonic power combining oscillator using mutually synchronized Gunn diodes embedded on slot line resonators. A both-sided MIC technology is adopted in the oscillator. The oscillator consists of Gunn diodes, slot line resonators and microstrip lines. By embedding Gunn diodes on the slot line resonators, the harmonic RF signal can be generated very easily. The microstrip lines are used for the power combining output circuit. This oscillator has advantages such as easy circuit design, simple circuit configuration and miniaturization of the circuit size. The second harmonic oscillator is designed and fabricated in K-Band. The output power is +5.75 dBm at the design frequency of 19.0 GHz (2f0) with the phase noise of -111.7 dBc/Hz at the offset frequency of 1 MHz. Excellent suppression of the undesired fundamental frequency signal (f0) of -39 dBc is achieved.

A silicon lateral photodiode is fabricated by standard 0.18 µm CMOS process, and the optical detection property is characterized. The photodiode has interdigital electrode structure with the electrode width of 0.22 µm and the electrode spacing of 0.6 µm. At 830 nm wavelength, the responsivity is 0.12 A/W at low bias voltage, and is increased to 0.6 A/W due to avalanche amplification. The bandwidth is also enhanced from 12 MHz at low bias voltage to 100 MHz at the bias voltage close to the breakdown voltage.

We propose to integrate a single lens on top of multiple OLEDs. Angular distribution of the light emitted from the lens surface is altered by turning on the OLEDs selectively. We can use such a light source as a backlight for a liquid crystal display to switch its viewing angle range and/or to display multiple images in different directions. Pixel-level integration would allow one to construct an OLED display with a similar emission angle control.

Simulation and fabrication results on back-illuminated 4-channel photodiode (PD) array with a self-aligned micro ball lens are described. The channel pitch and diameter of each photosensitive area are 250 µm and 40 µm, respectively. Measured photocurrent is 1.92 times larger than that without a lens. Alignment tolerance between the single mode fiber (SMF) optical axis and the photodiode is improved from 21.2 µm to 42.7 µm. Moreover, the separation tolerance between the fiber and the lens is 210.5 µm. These large tolerances agree with simulation results, demonstrating that the device configuration is suitable for receivers for multi-channel inter-connection. Frequency response and inter-channel cross talk are also discussed.

Monolithic gyrators are proposed on the basis of integrating resonant tunneling diodes (RTDs) and HEMT toward realization of broadband and high-Q passives. Feasibility of millimeter-wave active inductors using the gyrator are described with equivalent circuit analysis and numerical calculations assuming InP based RTDs and a HEMT to be integrated.

We studied planar graded-gap injector GaAs Gunn diodes designed for operation at 94 GHz. Two types of planar Gunn diodes were designed and fabricated. In the first diode, a cathode was situated inside a circular anode with a diameter of 190 µm. The distance between the anode and cathode varied from 60 µm to 68 µm depending on the cathode size. Also, we designed a structure with a constant distance between the anode and cathode of 10 µm. In the second diode, the anode was situated inside the cathode for the flip-chip mounting on the oscillator circuits. The fabrication of the Gunn diode was based on ohmic contact metallization, mesa etching, and air-bridge and overlay metallization. DC measurements were carried out, and the nature of the negative differential resistance, the operating voltage, and the peak current in the graded-gap injector GaAs Gunn diodes are discussed for different device structures. It is shown that the structure with the shorter distance between the cathode and anode has a higher peak current, higher breakdown voltage, and lower threshold voltage than those of the structure with the larger distance between the cathode and anode.