Field-effect Transistor

 Field Effect Transistors (FETs) use an electric field to

control the electrical behaviour of the device
 Also known as uni-polar transistors due to the
involvement of single-carrier-type operation
 Display very high input impedance at low
frequencies
History (the firsts)
 First patented in 1926 by Julius Edgar
 First practical application in 1947 by William
Shockley
 Shockley’s first practical semiconducting devices
were Junction FETs
Basic functionality
FETs have three terminals,
 Source (S)

 Drain (D)

 Gate (G)
 Dominant Types
The channel of a FET is doped to produce either an
n-type semiconductor or a p-type semiconductor. But,
the standard types are
 Junction FET

 Metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor

(MOSFET)
 Metal-nitride-oxide-semiconductor transistor
(MNOS)
 OFET (Organic field-effect transistors)
Pros
 FET has a high gate to maintain current resistance
 FET produces less noise than a bipolar junction
transistor (BJT)
 Exhibit no offset voltage and hence makes an
excellent signal chopper
 Typically has better thermal stability than BJT
Cons
 Low gain-bandwidth product compared to BJT
 FETs are susceptible to overload voltages, thus
requiring special handling
 Require very careful layout due to low “on” voltage
and high “off” voltage
 High-voltage FETs have a relatively high “on”
voltage which result in conduction loss
Uses
 Basis for modern digital integrated circuits
 Suitable for switching analogy signals
 Amplifiers like VHF
 IGBTs are used in switching internal combustion
engine ignition coils
 FinFETs (MOSFET tri-gate transistor)