Patent ID: 7326962

Claim:
A unit cell of a metal-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MESFET), comprising: a MESFET having a source region, a drain region and a gate contact, the gate contact being between the source region and the drain region and on an n-type conductivity channel layer; a p-type conductivity region beneath the source region and having an end that extends towards the drain region, the p-type conductivity region being spaced apart from the n-type conductivity channel layer and being electrically coupled to the source region; and an n-type conductivity region on the p-type conductivity region beneath the source region and extending toward the drain region without extending beyond the end of the p-type conductivity region, wherein the gate contact has a first sidewall and a second sidewall, the first sidewall being adjacent the source region and the second sidewall being adjacent the drain region; and wherein the n-type conductivity region extends from beneath the source region to the first sidewall of the gate contact without extending beyond the first sidewall of the gate contact.