Using CMOS-Compatible SOI MESFETs for Power Supply Management

MESFETs exhibit a unique set of device characteristics that are potentially desirable for extreme environment electronics. Chief among them are high-voltage capability, wide temperature operation, low input capacitance, and depletion mode behavior. Eventually the goal is to design a highly integrated solution using the MESFETs as described earlier, but that has yet to be fabricated or designed. In battery-operated products, the design of the power management system is critical to limiting power dissipation and lengthening battery lifetime. With the constant scaling of core voltages and the goal of minimizing power consumption, industry has been pushing for low dropouts (LDO) with lower dropout and output voltages. MESFETs can do that through a variety of unique characteristics along with their seamless ability to integrate well with conventional SOI CMOS. LDOs and buck regulator are just two examples of MESFET-MOSFET circuits that benefit from having two technologies on a single process.