Compression of electrical pulses using traveling-wave field effect transistors

A novel pulse compression scheme, which uses traveling-wave field effect transistors (TW-FETs) as the core elements, is proposed for the generation of ultrashort electrical pulse signals. The compression is achieved by modulating the amplitude of nonlinear solitary waves propagating along the gate line by the positive feedback established by the "carbon-copy" waves induced on the drain line. This article provides a theoretical description of the scheme, and some results of experimental investigations that characterize wave propagation on the gate line of a TW-FET.