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AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorsNorman Braslau, John L. Freeouf, George D. Pettit, Hans S. Rupprecht, Jerry M. Woodall
Estimating the term…
A semiconductor device of the ballistic type, wherein the carrier transport in the body of the device from one electrode to the other takes place essentially free of collisions, is fabricated with a semiconductor body having a long mean-free path, a body width between ohmic electrodes that is less than or equal to the product of the velocity of a carrier and the time to a collision, but more than the distance that will permit quantum mechanical tunnelling, an impressed voltage less than required for an intervalley carrier transition and having the ohmic external contact on each surface of the body free of any barrier to carrier flow. A ballistic type triode device is provided with a current modulating electrode included within the body of the device. The triode device body is of n type conductivity gallium arsenide containing a zinc doped p type conductivity gallium arsenide current modulating inclusion in the body and having, as at least one ohmic external contact, a graded bandgap indium gallium arsenide region.
Semiconductor signal translating apparatus comprising in combination:
A ballistic transport signal translator comprising in combination a semiconductor body having two separated ohmic contact electrodes wherein said semiconductor body has a doping density sufficient to support conduction but less than required for high probability of carrier collision, said semiconductor body further having a distance between said electrodes greater than will permit quantum mechanical tunnelling and less than the mean-free path length of said semiconductor material, a voltage across said body sufficient for conduction but less than sufficient to produce an intervalley carrier transition and each said ohmic contact having a resistance less than 10.sup.-6 ohm cm.sup.2.
In a semiconductor device of the type where majority carriers travel ballistically through a semiconductor transport region of a first conductivity type between ohmic contacts having a contact resistance less than 10.sup.-6 ohm cm.sup.2, the improvement comprising a current flow modulation control electrode means of at least one region of a second conductivity type opposite to said first conductivity type positioned in said transport region between said ohmic contacts.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.