Micro-plasma field-effect transistors

We designed, fabricated and tested new microplasma FET (MOPFET) devices that operate inside RF helium plasma that generated at atmospheric pressure. Unlike normal FETs, micro-plasma FETs uses electrons and ions as carriers. It has unique advantages over normal FETs in extreme conditions at high temperature and ionizing radiation in space and in a nuclear event. It also has potential applications in combustion engine sensors and diagnostic circuits. MOPFET can potentially operate with very few ions and have the additional potential of producing nano-scale switches and amplifiers. The plasma for our MOPFET was separately generated and sustained using an RF plasma source. Thus, for the first time we achieved small voltage (5-10V) plasma switches and amplifiers. We have developed concentrated and distributed plasma sources suitable for different sizes of integrated MOPFET circuits.