Floating gates for avalanche suppression in MESFET's

A metal-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MESFET) structure is proposed. It employs one or more uncontacted gate elements between the normal gate and the drain which float in potential in a manner similar to guard rings. These floating gates clamp the maximum electric field at the normal gate and inhibit avalanche breakdown. Numerical modeling of a typical GaAs MESFET with two floating gates demonstrates the field-clamping effect and shows a substantial increase in avalanche breakdown voltage and maximum output power relative to a similar conventional device.<
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