MILLIMETER-WAVE OSCILLATOR BASED ON A QUASIPLANAR SUPERLATTICE ELECTRONIC DEVICE

We report on a millimeter wave oscillator based on a quasiplanar super lattice electronic device (SLED). The SLED, a lateral structured GaAs/ AlAs superlattice, showing, at room temperature, a negative differenti al conductance, was provided with two terminals lying in one plane and mounted in a waveguide structure. The oscillator delivered radiation, in a relative bandwidth of 10(-5), that was tunable by about 10% arou nd 70 GHz and had a power of 100 mu W; depending on the voltage across the superlattice, additional oscillation lines (up to 180 GHz) appear ed. We associate the generation of radiation with a current oscillatio n caused by traveling dipole domains in the superlattice. (C) 1997 Ame rican Institute of Physics.