a method of epitaxially growing backward diodes and diodes grown by the method are presented herein . more specifically , the invention utilizes epitaxial - growth techniques such as molecular beam epitaxy in order to produce a thin , highly doped layer at the p - n junction in order to steepen the voltage drop at the junction , and thereby increase the electric field . by tailoring the p and n doping levels as well as adjusting the thin , highly doped layer , backward diodes may be consistently produced and may be tailored in a relatively easy and controllable fashion for a variety of applications . the use of the thin , highly doped layer provided by the present invention is discussed particularly in the context of ingaas backward diode structures , but may be tailored to many diode types .