Compound‐Semiconductor Transistors

One route to faster electronics is faster electrons, for the switching speed of the transistors that lie at the heart of most electronic circuits is limited by the velocity of the electrons themselves. Electrons in compound semiconducting materials such as gallium arsenide move with much higher velocities under applied electric fields than do electrons in silicon. This and other properties of semiconducting compounds are opening the way for new devices, including logic circuits (figure 1) that operate at higher speeds, microwave devices that operate at higher frequencies and circuits that interface easily with optical fibers.