Review
Version 1
Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed
Microplasma Field Effect Transistors
Version 1
: Received: 16 February 2017 / Approved: 17 February 2017 / Online: 17 February 2017 (07:33:01 CET)
A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.
Tabib-Azar, M.; Pai, P. Microplasma Field Effect Transistors. Micromachines 2017, 8, 117. Tabib-Azar, M.; Pai, P. Microplasma Field Effect Transistors. Micromachines 2017, 8, 117.
Abstract
Micro plasma devices (MPD) with power gains are of interest in applications involving operations in the presence of ionizing radiations, in propulsion, in control, amplification of high power electromagnetic waves, and in metamaterials for energy management. Here we review and discuss MPDs with an emphasis on new architectures that have evolved during the past 7 years. Devices with programmable impact ionization rates and programmable boundaries are developed to control the plasma ignition voltage and current to achieve power gain. Plasma devices with 1-10 μm gaps are shown to operate in the sub-Paschen regime in atmospheric pressures where ion-assisted field emission results in a breakdown voltage that linearly depends on the gap distance in contrast to the exponential dependence dictated by the Paschen curve. Small gap devices offer higher operation frequencies at low operation voltages with applications in metamaterial skins for energy management and in harsh environment inside nuclear reactors and in space. In addition to analog plasma devices, logic gates, digital circuits, and distributed amplifiers are also discussed.
Keywords
Plasma devices; atmospheric-pressure plasmas; glow discharge devices; power amplifiers; terahertz switches
Subject
Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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