Gatecontrolled

Gatecontrolled, often written as gate-controlled, is a term used in electronics to describe systems, devices, or components whose operation is controlled by an external gate signal. The gate is typically an electrode that modulates electrical conductance, current, or state when a voltage or current is applied. In field-effect devices such as metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) and junction field-effect transistors (JFETs), the gate voltage controls the charge density in a conducting channel, effectively turning the device on or off or setting its transconductance. These devices are described as gate-controlled because their primary control input is the gate.

Other gate-controlled devices include thyristors, such as silicon-controlled rectifiers (SCRs), where a gate current initiates conduction once the device is forward biased; once triggered, the device latches on until the current falls below a holding level. Gate control is also central to power devices like insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), which use a gate drive to regulate high-current switching.

Beyond conventional electronics, gate control appears in nanoscale and quantum devices, where electrostatic gates tune quantum confinement, occupancy of quantum dots, or the tunneling rates in single-electron transistors, enabling precise control at the level of individual charges.

Overall, gate-controlled denotes a design paradigm in which a gate electrode provides the primary control input, distinct from base, source, or feedback controls. The specific behavior depends on the device physics and architecture.