Solid State Electronic Devices, 7th Edition

10.3 The Gunn Diode

Microwave devices that operate by the transferred-electron mechanism are often called Gunn diodes, after J. B. Gunn, who first demonstrated one of the forms of oscillation. In the transferred-electron mechanism, the conduction electrons of some semiconductors are shifted from a state of high mobility to a state of low mobility by the influence of a strong electric field. Negative conductance operation can be achieved in a diode² for which this mechanism applies, and the results are varied and useful in microwave circuits.

² These devices are called diodes, since they are two-terminal devices. No p-n junction is involved, however. Gunn effect and related devices utilize bulk instabilities, which do not require junctions.