A semiconductor amplifying device with up to 100-meg input impedance is now available from an American manufacturer.

(Some French firms already have announced field-effect devices.) rystalonics! ambridge! "ass.! is selling field-effect transistors for #$% to #&' each. (owever! the price should eventually come down below that for conventional transistors! since the new devices are simpler to ma)e! the firm said. As a circuit element! the field-effect transistor is similar to a vacuum tube. (*he manufacturer has adopted +anode!+ +cathode!+ and +grid+ terminology for the electrodes.) *he main conduction path (see sketch) is through a bar of n-type silicon with ohmic +anode+ and +cathode+ contacts at either end. ontrol is through depletion layers pro,ected by p-n ,unctions formed on the sides of the main n-type bar. *he high input impedance comes from the reverse bias applied to the p-n control +grid+ ,unctions. *he depth of the depletion layers is in turn controlled by the amount of reverse bias on the ,unctions. -n effect! the depletion layers +cho)e+ off the current flow through the main bar! the ma.imum effect being achieved when they meet in the center. rystalonics has listed si. amplifier types (designations ( /10- /1%) and four switching types ( /%0- /%$). All are supplied in *0-% pac)ages. "a.imum anode currents are %0 mA and ma.imum power dissipations are '%0 m1. *he transconductances vary from 100 to 1'00 at normal temperatures. 2ut! unli)e transistors! the transconductance increases at lower temperature. At the temperature of li3uid nitrogen! a device which has a g m of %00 at room temperature was reported to have a gm of %000. -nterelectrode capacitances are high! $% to %0 pf! and do present design problems at fre3uencies as low as 1 )c. (owever! the transconductance itself remains constant up to '%0 mc! so the device can be used in tuned amplifiers up to the )mc region. (4lectronic 5esign! March 29, 1961, p. 66)