High-frequency solid-state electronic devices

Starting with exploratory work in the 1930s and development work in the 1940s a variety of two-terminal and three-terminal solid-state device structures have been proposed, fabricated, and developed. This work parallels the development effort on vacuum electronic devices, and the two technologies share many applications. The solid-state and vacuum electronic devices work in tandem to enable numerous commercial and military systems. Solid-state device development is closely linked to semiconductor materials growth and processing technology, and advances such as the introduction of heterojunction growth technology, permit complex multiple layer device structures to be fabricated and optimized for maximized device performance. This work has been very successful and a variety of high-performance diodes and transistors are now available for use from UHF into the millimeter-wave spectrum, approaching terahertz frequencies. The development, operating principles, and state-of-the-art of various diode and transistor structures are reviewed.