A high-speed dynamic domino circuit implemented with GaAs MESFETs

The dynamic domino and gates composed of GaAs depletion-mode (D-mode) MESFETs are described in this work. This circuit allows very complex input combinational functions which can provide very high gate equivalences. Test circuits were designed which consisted of chains of 15 dynamic AND gates with static off-chip drivers. The circuits were fabricated by a foundry and tested at the wafer level. The measured propagation delay per gate is 180 ps for a two-input AND gate and 220 ps for a four-input AND gate, with a power consumption of 0.55 mW/gate. The minimum frequency of operation is found to be as low as 100 kHz. A 4-b carry generator was designed and simulated. A delay of 400 ps was predicted for this circuit.