A perspective on electron bombarded semiconductor power devices

For 20 years, Electron Bombarded Semiconductor, or EBS, devices have shown promise for power amplification and power control applications. Until recently, products were not available; however, commercially available devices now provide characteristics superior to competing semiconductors and vacuum tubes. For the EBS operating principle, two device configurations and present and projected performance characteristics are given. Also included are figures of merit for pulsed and CW amplifiers for use in comparing the EBS with other devices. The life cycle of the EBS, from its birth through its present early adolescence, has involved Considerable struggle. The marriage of two foreign technologies has resulted in an offspring which only now is justifying the support of its early advocates, thus, the EBS must be considered to be an emerging device. This should be remembered when comparisons are made to RF power transistors, which are mature devices with only small evolutionary performance improvements to be expected in the future.