Ion induced charge collection in GaAs MESFETs

Abstract

Charge-collection measurements on GaAs MESFET test structures demonstrate that more charge can be collected at the gate than is deposited in the active layer and more charge can be collected at the drain than the total amount of charge produced by the ion. Enhanced charge collection at the gate edge has also been observed. The current transients produced by the energetic ions have been measured directly with about 20-ps resolution. The significance of this work is that it shows charge-collection phenomena in GaAs MESFETs to be very complex with important implications for modeling SEU (single-event upset) phenomena and developing techniques to mitigate SEU effects.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>