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E6E01

CIRCUIT COMPONENTS · Semiconductor materials and packages for RF use

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Why is gallium arsenide (GaAs) useful for semiconductor devices operating at UHF and higher frequencies?

  1. AHigher noise figures
  2. BHigher electron mobility
  3. CLower junction voltage drop
  4. DLower transconductance
Why Electron mobility is how quickly charge carriers move through the crystal under a given electric field, and in gallium arsenide it is roughly five times that of silicon. Faster carriers mean shorter transit times through the device, so the transistor keeps useful gain up into the microwave region where silicon devices run out of steam. That same property also gives GaAs devices low noise, which is why GaAs FETs are favored for UHF and microwave preamps.
Watch out The choice mentioning higher noise figures is backwards: GaAs devices are prized precisely because their noise figures are very low, often well under 1 dB at UHF.
GaAs: electrons Go faster. High mobility equals high frequency and low noise.
HamSandwich explanation, first draft. The question and answers are the NCVEC text.
All of E6E E6E02 →

The rest of E6E

  1. E6E01 Why is gallium arsenide (GaAs) useful for semiconductor devices operating at UHF and higher frequencies?
  2. E6E02 Which of the following device packages is a through-hole type?
  3. E6E03 Which of the following materials supports the highest frequency of operation when used in MMICs?
  4. E6E04 Which is the most common input and output impedance of MMICs?
  5. E6E05 Which of the following noise figure values is typical of a low-noise UHF preamplifier?
  6. E6E06 What characteristics of MMICs make them a popular choice for VHF through microwave circuits?
  7. E6E07 What type of transmission line is often used for connections to MMICs?
  8. E6E08 How is power supplied to the most common type of MMIC?
  9. E6E09 Which of the following component package types have the least parasitic effects at frequencies above the HF r…
  10. E6E10 What advantage does surface-mount technology offer at RF compared to using through-hole components?
  11. E6E11 What is a characteristic of DIP packaging used for integrated circuits?
  12. E6E12 Why are DIP through-hole package ICs not typically used at UHF and higher frequencies?
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