GaAs Schmitt trigger memory cell design

A novel GaAs five-transistor static memory cell derived from a Schmitt trigger is proposed. The memory cell overcomes MESFET subthreshold leakage loss by using a self ground-shifting technique which limits the leakage current flow to the cell. Compared with conventional GaAs SRAM cells, it offers small area and as well as fast read/write cycles. A 1 Kb prototype implemented in 1 /spl mu/m nonself-aligned GaAs MESFET technology exhibited read and write access times of the order of 2.0 ns.