The push toward low voltage devices

Since the early 1980s, increasing attention has been focused on the development and manufacture of low voltage and low power electronics. The motivation for this trend is multifaceted. For RF and microwave circuitry, the constraints implied by the low voltage imperative can be examined as they apply to every aspect of RF/microwave component development. The ultimate success of a low voltage and low power RF product strategy is affected by all of the following issues: materials technology (GaAs, Si, epitaxy, implant, heterojunctions); device technology (BJT, HBT, MESFET, MOSFET, HEMT); circuit technology (topology challenges for low voltage); and radio system design issues (architecture trends and low voltage). Of these factors, system architecture has the greatest potential impact.