Microwave Frequency GaAs Charge-Coupled Devices

Operation of GaAs CCDs up to 4.2 GHz is reported here. Measurements of charge transfer efficiency at 2.5 GHz have shown it to be well in excess 0.99 per transfer. With the recent success of full incorporation of high speed CCDs in GaAs ICs to form a monolithic transversal filter operating at 1 GHz, there has been a strong effort to investigate the high frequency limits of the device and to characterize those limits in terms of materials technology and design criteria. Our results are now approaching the fundamental physical limitations imposed by the device structure and material parameters.