500oC Electronics for Harsh Environments

Solid state vacuum devices (SSVDs) are a relatively new class of electronic devices. Innosys is a leading producer of high frequency SSVDs for a number of applications, including RF communications. SSVDs combine features inherent to both solid state and vacuum transistors. Electron transport can be by solid state or vacuum or both. The focus of this talk is on thermionic SSVDs, in which the primary vacuum transport is by thermionically liberated electron emission. SSVDs can be fabricated on a number of substrates (e.g., silicon, silicon carbide, silicon on insulator, sapphire, alumina, etc.). SSVDs are compatible and can be integrated with most other semiconductor process and device technologies. SSVDs can be used as high voltage/high power devices (from DC to well into the GHz range) or as small analog or mixed signal circuits. Examples of such SSVD circuits include operational amplifiers (op amps) and eventually digital to analog converters