A 32-bit RISC Implemented in Enhancement-Mode JFET GaAs

Journal Article · Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 1986 · Computer

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1109/MC.1986.1663072· OSTI ID:5128038

Rasset, L. ^[1]; Niederland, A. ^[1]; Lane, J. A. ^[1]; Geideman, W. A. ^[1]

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1. McDonnell Douglas Astronautic Co., Huntington Beach, CA (United States)

Recently, considerable attention has been focused on gallium arsenide (GaAs) semiconductor process technologies for very high speed digital integrated circuits. This attention is motivated primarily by the ability of GaAs transistors to switch much faster with lower power consumption than transistors in silicon technologies. Soon to be available with higher switching speed and more transistors than the fastest silicon technology (emitter-coupled logic), GaAs digital ICs will be a boon to developers of super-computers and specialized high-speed microprocessors, such as digital signal processors. GaAs transistors are also much more resistant to temperature extremes and to ionizing radiation than silicon, important features for applications requiring operation in harsh environments. This does not mean that GaAs will replace silicon; rather, where the higher cost of GaAs is warranted by application requirements that only GaAs can satisfy, it will augment silicon. The high cost of GaAs chips is due mainly to the scarcity of gallium and the inferior quality and difficulty in manufacturing the gallium arsenide compound. Unlike silicon, which is very uniform and pure, GaAs has many defects and its characteristics may vary considerably from ingot to ingot, affecting yield. Also, the wafers have a tendency to break during processing.

• Research Organization: McDonnell Douglas Astronautic Co., Huntington Beach, CA (United States)
• OSTI ID: 5128038
• Journal Information: Computer, Journal Name: Computer Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 19; ISSN 0018-9162
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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ARSENIC COMPOUNDS
ARSENIDES
COMPUTERS
COST
DEFECTS
DIGITAL COMPUTERS
ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS
ELEMENTS
ENERGY CONSUMPTION
FABRICATION
FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTORS
GALLIUM ARSENIDES
GALLIUM COMPOUNDS
INTEGRATED CIRCUITS
IONIZING RADIATIONS
MATERIALS TESTING
MICROELECTRONIC CIRCUITS
MICROPROCESSORS
PERFORMANCE
PHYSICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
PNICTIDES
RADIATION EFFECTS
RADIATIONS
SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
SEMIMETALS
SILICON
SUPERCOMPUTERS
TEMPERATURE EFFECTS
TESTING
TRANSISTORS