Method of improving switching speed

The saturation characteristic of a switching transistor can be improved by using gold doping, buried layers, or clamp circuits. However, some important factors such as switching speed, loading capability, cost, and reliability may have to be sacrificed. The author describes a new technique to significantly improve not only the saturation characteristic, but also the switching speed by utilizing a two-collector-terminal transistor. The TCT structure and theory are presented. Results of experiments using the TCT and the conventional transistor are compared.