Gallium antimonide planar tunnel diode

Abstract

Novel technology for fabricating gallium antimonide planar tunnel diodes on (III) crystall plane was developed for strain or pressure transducers. Peak current to valley current ratio of eight was obtained routinely and the maximum ratio was about eighteen. The series resistance was between one to five ohms. The fractional peak current change due to the unit strain (gauge factor) was in the range of 180 to 240. The fabrication technology along with the theoretical explanations of the high strain sensitivity is discussed.