The transpacitor, a novel three-terminal MOS-capacitor switching device

A device is described that operates on the principle of modulation of the displacement current flowing between two outer gate electrodes by a voltage applied to a third intermediate electrode. This electrode is composed of a 0.5 µm electronic-quality silicon layer which can now be prepared by recrystallization processes. The device is switched by biasing this layer either in accumulation or depletion punchthrough. The performance of devices measured thus far has shown good modulation ratios and promising transition speeds. The device is a three-terminal version of a varactor diode so that high speeds and low power dissipation may be expected. Application to logic circuits is discussed.