Microwave and Radar Engineering

9

Microwave Solid-state Devices

9.1 INTRODUCTION

Before the 1960s, vacuum tube technology was widely used in electronics, which increased the size and cost of the entire system. Later, the development in semiconductor technology led to the growth of solid-state devices, which were more reliable and had a longer life. These devices generally require low power and are very compact and lighter in weight.

In the recent past, tremendous research activities have taken place for the development of better, low-noise, high-frequency, and greater-bandwidth components to achieve lesser switching time and better performance characteristics. In this chapter, several microwave solid-state devices, including two terminal devices such as transferred electron ...