Static Negative Resistance in Gunn Effect Materials with Field-Dependent Carrier Diffusion

A numerical study of the equations governing the electric field in Gunn effect materials under constant bias shows that static negative resistance (SNR) can occur as a bulk effect when certain conditions regarding carrier diffusion are satisfied. This result places an important limitation on Shockley's positive conductance theorem in that a completely general extension of the theorem to cases where diffusion is field dependent cannot exist. © 1971, IEEE. All rights reserved.