Avto Metals has revealed important features of its novel patented Avto Quantum Transistor (AQT) which has the capability of modulating an electrical signal by utilizing the tunneling electron to destructively or constructively interrupt with the electron wave function in a gate material.
Following the patent issuance, Avto metals will work in collaboration with academic institutions and industries to develop and test pilot equipment having the AQT and comprehensively measure its performance for factors such as work performed by the gate, material heating, leakage of current and the impact of changes in dimension due to heat or variations in the manufacturing process. On completion of the next stage of technological development the company will license the technology to one or more IC manufacturers.
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Dr. Hans Walitzki, Avto Metals director, stated that the AQT design utilizes Avto surface geometry to control the properties of electron wave, and to direct current flow.
The U.S. Patent describes that a quantum interference transistor consists of a thin metal film with drain zones and source, an insulating layer of several angstroms over the thin metal film, and on top a small metal island called the gate.
For providing lower resistance, AQT uses a metallic conductor construction to conduct electricity which helps to prevent current losses and avoid over heating. AQT’s small gate island lowers the gate capacitance and permits rapid switching speed and less current consumption at higher speeds.
To withstand the radiation hardness of a standard silicon-on-sapphire or silicon-on-insulator device, Avto uses either a solid insulator or an isolating film placed on a bulk wafer. The thick insulating layer of AQT placed between the transistor and the substrate protects the transistor from current spillage and single-event effect (SEE) charges resulting from ionizing radiation.
This product offers benefits to OEMs, satellite applications, space-based electronic systems, spacecraft, military electronics, and other users who expect energy-efficient, better performance, and system reliability, suggested Dr. Walitzki.