Jj. Ojha et al., REALIZATION OF AN N-CHANNEL GAAS ALGAAS BISTABLE FIELD-EFFECT TRANSISTOR (BISFET)/, IEEE electron device letters, 14(8), 1993, pp. 385-387
The first realization of a novel heterostructure device, the bistable
field-effect transistor (BISFET), is reported. The device uses an n-ch
annel GaAs/AlGaAs inversion channel (IC) structure. It contains a posi
tive feedback loop between the gate and source terminals, which is act
ivated above a gate voltage of 1.7 V. This leads to abrupt transitions
between high and low current states as the drain voltage is changed,
with a switching ratio of 1.5. The transitions are accompanied by shar
p changes in gate current as the feedback loop turns on and off. These
transitions, referred to as switchup and switchdown, form a large hys
teresis loop in the drain characteristics. Hysteresis as large as 3.7
V is observed, making the device strongly bistable.