Hard-type oscillators for ultrahigh frequency applications were proposed based on resonant tunneling diodes (RTDs) and a HEMT trigger circuit. The hard-type oscillators initiate oscillation only after external excitation. This is advantageous for suppressing the spurious oscillation in the bias line, which is one of the most significant problems in the RTD oscillators. We first investigated a series-connected circuit of a resistor and an RTD for constructing a hard-type oscillator. We carried out circuit simulation using the practical device parameters. It was demonstrated that the stable oscillation can be obtained for such oscillators. Next, we proposed to use series-connected RTDs for the gain block of the hard-type oscillators. The series circuits of RTDs show the negative differential resistance in very narrow regions, or no regions at all, which makes impossible to use such circuits for the conventional soft-type oscillators. However, with the trigger circuit, they can be used for hard-type oscillators. We confirmed the oscillation and the bias stability of these oscillators, and also demonstrated that the voltage swing can be easily increased by increasing the number of RTDs connected in series. This is promising method to overcome the power restriction of the RTD oscillators.

An NMOS 4-phase dynamic logic scheme is described, which is intended to achieve low-power consumption in the deep submicron design. In this scheme, the short-circuit current is eliminated, and moreover, the voltage swing of transition signals is reduced, resulting in enhancing power reduction effectively. First, distinctive features of this 4-phase dynamic logic are specified, as compared with the static CMOS logic and dynamic domino CMOS logic. Then, power simulations are attempted for the 4-phase dynamic logic, static CMOS logic, dynamic CMOS logic, and pass-transistor logic, by using a number of logic modules, which demonstrate that the NMOS 4-phase dynamic logic is the most power-efficient. Moreover, through the gate delay simulation, the capability of how many transistors can be packed in a logic block is also discussed.

A new low-power and high-speed CMOS interface circuit is proposed in which signals are transmitted by means of impulse voltage. This mode of transmission is called impulse transmission. Although a termination resistor is used for impedance matching, the current through the output transistors and the termination resistor flows only in transient states and no current flows in stable states. The output buffer and the termination resistor dissipate power only in transient states, so their power dissipation is reduced to 30% that of conventional low-voltage-swing CMOS interface circuits at 160 MHz. The circuit was fabricated by 0.5 µm CMOS technology and was evaluated at a supply voltage of 3.3 V. Experimental results confirm low power of 4.8 mW at 160 MHz and high-speed 870 Mb/s error free point-to-point transmission.