A comparative study of the noise performance ofaluminium-gallium-arsenide/gallium-arsenide high electron mobilitytransistors with and without superconducting gate electrodes

The noise performance of an AlGaAs high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) with a 1 μm vanadium/titanium superconducting gate electrode is compared to an otherwise identical nonsuperconducting titanium gate HEMT. At a frequency of 1 GHz and at a temperature below its critical temperature, the superconducting gate HEMT achieved a noise temperature of 21 K. Under these conditions the HEMT with the Ti gate electrode demonstrated a noise temperature of approximately 70 K. This factor of three reduction in noise temperature is due to the reduced gate resistance of the V/Ti superconducting gate. This is the first demonstration of noise reduction in an HEMT using a low-temperature superconducting gate electrode     

Analysis of delta-doped and uniformly doped AlGaAs/GaAs HEMT's byensemble Monte Carlo simulations

Transport properties and device performance of delta-doped and uniformly doped AlGaAs/GaAs high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) with identical threshold voltages and gate capacitors are investigated using two-dimensional self-consistent ensemble Monte Carlo simulations. The model includes the effects of real-space transfer and carrier degeneracy, as well as the influence of DX centers and surface states. A one-to-one comparison of simulation results for the two devices demonstrates superior performance for the delta-doped HEMT and provides a physical basis for the observed improvements. In particular, the delta-doped HEMT maintains its superior device performance as gate bias is increased. Reasons for these improvements are reported     

一种紧凑的GaN高电子迁移率晶体管大信号模型拓扑

GaN高电子迁移率晶体管（HEMT）以其复杂的器件特性使其大信号建模变得十分困难,尽管EEHEMT、Angelov等模型结构曾经成功应用于GaAs HEMT/MESFET的大信号模型,但当它们被用于GaN HEMT建模时却不再准确和完备.面向GaN HEMT器件的大信号模型,本文提出了一种紧凑的模型拓扑,此模型拓扑综合了GaN HEMT器件的直流电压-电流（I-V）特性、非线性电容、寄生参数、栅延迟漏延迟与电流崩塌、自热效应以及噪声等特性.经验证此模型拓扑在仿真中具有很好的收敛性,适用于GaN HEMT器件的大信号模型的建立,满足GaN基微波电路设计对器件模型的需求.     

Experimental and theoretical noise analysis of microwave HEMTs

Low-frequency noise power and high-frequency noise figures in HEMTs (high electron mobility transistors) were measured and compared with calculations based on a one-dimensional noise model to characterize their low-noise properties. It was found that the drain noise current parameter Q in HEMTS is lower than that in GaAs MESFETs. The strong correlation between drain- and induced-gate-noise currents in HEMTs is due to the asymmetric distribution of noise generation along a channel, and the drain noise current is nearly canceled by those induced-gate-noise current. The intrinsic thermal noise from source and gate resistances is about 25% of the total output noise in the 0.25-μm gate-length HEMT considered     

DC and microwave characteristics of sub-0.1-μm gate-lengthplanar-doped pseudomorphic HEMTs

Analytical modeling of these very-short-channel HEMTs (high-electron-mobility transistors) using the charge-control model is given. The calculations performed using this model indicate a very high electron velocity in the device channel (3.2±0.2×10⁷ cm/s) and clearly demonstrate the advantages of the planar-doped devices as compared to the conventional uniformly doped HEMTs. Devices with different air-bridged geometries have been fabricated to study the effect of the gate resistance on the sub-0.1-μm HEMT performance. With reduced gate resistance in the air-bridge-drain device, noise figures as low as 0.7 and 1.9 dB were measured at 18 and 60 GHz, respectively. Maximum available gains as high as 13.0 dB at 60 GHz and 9.2 dB at 92 GHz, corresponding to an f_max of 270 GHz, have also been measured in the device. Using the planar-doped pseudomorphic structure with a high gate aspect-ratio design, a noise figure of less than 2.0 dB at 94 GHz is projected based on expected further reduction in the parasitic gate and source resistances     

Highly uniform InAlAs-InGaAs HEMT technology for high-speed optical communication system ICs

The authors have developed a highly uniform, InP-based high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) technology for high-speed optical communication system integrated circuits (ICs). Special attention was paid to obtaining a high yield and uniformity without degrading the high-frequency characteristics of these HEMTs. An InP etch-stopper layer was employed to control the gate recess etching. The authors successfully fabricated InAlAs-InGaAs HEMTs with a cutoff frequency of 175 GHz after interconnection, which is sufficiently high for application in 40-Gb/s optical communication ICs. The standard deviation of the threshold voltage was only 13 mV across a 3-in wafer. They also developed a fabrication process for a Y-shaped gate to maintain high uniformity, enabling us to integrate more than a thousand transistors with a 0.1-/spl mu/m-class gate length. With this technology, ICs with over 1000 transistors were successfully fabricated and operated at over 40 Gb/s. Furthermore, the authors fabricated a 2:1 multiplexer that had more than 200 transistors and reached an operating speed of 90 Gb/s. They have thus concluded that their InAlAs-InGaAs HEMT technology can be applied to fabricate high-speed ICs for optical communication systems.     

Ultra-short 25-nm-gate lattice-matched InAlAs/InGaAs HEMTs withinthe range of 400 GHz cutoff frequency

We have succeeded in fabricating ultra-short 25-nm-gate InAlAs/InGaAs high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) lattice-matched to InP substrates. The two-step-recessed gate technology and low temperature processing at below 300°C allowed the fabrication of such ultra-short gates. DC measurements showed that the 25-nm-gate HEMT had good pinchoff behavior. We obtained a cutoff frequency f_T of 396 GHz, within the range of 400 GHz f_T, for the 25-nm-gate HEMT. This f_T is the highest value get reported for any type of transistor, and the gate length of 25 nm is the shortest value ever reported for any compound semiconductor transistor that exhibits device operation     

The effect of gate leakage on the noise figure of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs

The effect of gate leakage on the noise figure of AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMTs) is explored. It is shown that these devices have a sizable amount of gate leakage that cannot be ignored when measuring their noise performance. Measurements across a single sample have more than 1 dB of variation in minimum noise figure. We will show this variation is because of gate leakage. A modified van der Ziel model is used to predict this large variation and allows easy noise figure prediction of HEMT and MESFET devices.     

Low-Frequency Noise Characteristics in Ion-Implanted GaN-Based HEMTs

Low-frequency noise characteristics in ion-implanted GaN/AlGaN/GaN and AlGaN/GaN HEMTs were investigated. The normalized spectral noise density was about 6 dB lower in GaN/AlGaN/GaN HEMTs than in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs. The normalized spectral noise density dependence on the gate length Lg indicates that the main origin of low-frequency noise is at the region under the gate in both devices. The Hooge parameters alphaH for both devices are on the order of 10^-1-10^{- 2}. The ion implantation process introduces a lot of defects in the source/drain regions, but the values of alphaH are comparable with those for conventional GaN-based HEMT devices. The values of alphaH are also lower in GaN/AlGaN/GaN HEMTs than in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs, which is due to the decrease of surface potential fluctuations in GaN/AlGaN/GaN HEMTs.     

Ballistic transport in high electron mobility transistors

A general ballistic FET model that was previously used for ballistic MOSFETs is applied to ballistic high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs), and the results are compared with experimental data for a sub-50 nm InAlAs-InGaAs HEMT. The results show that nanoscale HEMTs can be modeled as an intrinsic ballistic transistor with extrinsic source/drain series resistances. We also examine the "ballistic mobility" concept, a technique proposed for extending the drift-diffusion model to the quasi-ballistic regime. Comparison with a rigorous ballistic model shows that under low drain bias the ballistic mobility concept, although nonphysical, can be used to understand the experimental phenomena related to quasi-ballistic transport, such as the degradation of the apparent carrier mobility in short channel devices. We also point out that the ballistic mobility concept loses validity under high drain bias. The conclusions of this paper should be also applicable to other nanoscale transistors with high carrier mobility, such as carbon nanotube FETs and strained silicon MOSFETs.     

The device characteristics of Ir- and Ti-based Schottky gates AlSb/InAs high electron mobility transistors

In this work, the InAs/AlSb high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) on GaAs semi-insulating substrate using refractory iridium (Ir) gate technology was proposed. The Ir-gate exhibited a superior metal work function which was beneficial for increasing Schottky barrier height of InAs/AlSb heterostructures to 0.58 eV. Compared to the Ti-gate HEMT, the Ir-gate HEMT shows higher threshold voltage and lower gate leakage current owing to its higher Schottky barrier height and higher melting point. Moreover, the Ir-gated HEMT also shows the manifest stability improvement of DC characteristics under hot carrier stress as the Ti and As diffusion is alleviated.     

11 GHz ultrawide-bandwidth monolithic photoreceiver using InGaAspin PD and InAlAs/InGaAs HEMTs

A very-wide-bandwidth long-wavelength monolithically integrated photoreceiver is presented which comprises an InGaAs pin PD and a transimpedance amplifier. The receiver uses epilayers grown by one-step MOVPE. The InGaAs channel high-electron-mobility field effect transistor (HEMT) employs an Si planar-doped carrier supplying layer to obtain larger transconductance and uniform threshold voltage. The 0.5 μm gate length is used for HEMTs to enhance the speed of operation. This receiver shows a very wide bandwidth of 11 GHz, and opened eye for a 15 Gbit/s NRZ signal. This is the first demonstration of a long-wavelength monolithic photoreceiver receiving a 15 Gbit/s light signal     

Reduction of spectral noise density in p-i-n-HEMT lightwavereceivers

The spectral noise density of a lightwave receiver is computed from known physical parameters of the photodiode and the high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT). Low noise is achieved for an appropriate choice of device parameters. The results are applied to circuits built with readily available commercial HEMTs and p-i-n photodiodes. They also predict the superior noise performance of cooled receivers which cannot be readily derived from previous work     

Effect of the post-gate annealing on the gate reliability of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs

In this paper,we investigated the effect of post-gate annealing (PGA) on reverse gate leakage and the reverse bias reli-ability of Al0.23Ga0.77N/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs).We found that the Poole-Frenkel (PF) emission is domin-ant in the reverse gate leakage current at the low reverse bias region (Vth ＜ VG ＜ 0 V) for the unannealed and annealed HEMTs.The emission barrier height of HEMT is increased from 0.139 to 0.256 eV after the PGA process,which results in a reduction of the reverse leakage current by more than one order.Besides,the reverse step stress was conducted to study the gate reliabil-ity of both HEMTs.After the stress,the unannealed HEMT shows a higher reverse leakage current due to the permanent dam-age of the Schottky gate.In contrast,the annealed HEMT shows a little change in reverse leakage current.This indicates that the PGA can reduce the reverse gate leakage and improve the gate reliability.     

30 nm T-gate enhancement-mode InAlN/AlN/GaN HEMT on SiC substratesfor future high power RF applications

The DC and RF performance of 30 nm gate length enhancement mode (E-mode) InAlN/AlN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) on SiC substrate with heavily doped source and drain region have been investigated using the Synopsys TCAD tool. The proposed device has the features of a recessed T-gate structure, InGaN back barrier and Al₂O₃ passivated device surface. The proposed HEMT exhibits a maximum drain current density of 2.1 A/mm, transconductance g_m of 1050 mS/mm, current gain cut-off frequency f_t of 350 GHz and power gain cut-off frequency f_max of 340 GHz. At room temperature the measured carrier mobility (μ), sheet charge carrier density (n_s) and breakdown voltage are 1580 cm²/(V·s), 1.9×10¹³ cm^-2, and 10.7 V respectively. The superlatives of the proposed HEMTs are bewitching competitor or future sub-millimeter wave high power RF VLSI circuit applications.     

MBE生长的跨导为186mS/mm的AlGaN/GaN HEMT

用分子束外延 ( MBE)技术研制出了 Al Ga N/Ga N高电子迁移率晶体管 ( HEMT)材料 ,其室温迁移率为 10 35cm2 /V· s、二维电子气浓度为 1.0× 10 13 cm - 2 ;77K迁移率为 2 6 53cm2 /V· s、二维电子气浓度为 9.6× 10 12 cm- 2 。用此材料研制了栅长为 1μm、栅宽为 80μm、源 -漏间距为 4μm的 Al Ga N/Ga N HEMT,其室温最大非本征跨导为 186 m S/mm、最大漏极饱和电流密度为 92 5m A/mm、特征频率为 18.8GH z。另外 ,还研制了具有 2 0个栅指 (总栅宽为 2 0× 80μm =1.6 mm )的大尺寸器件 ,该器件的最大漏极饱和电流为 1.33A。     

Theoretical study of a GaN-AlGaN high electron mobility transistor including a nonlinear polarization model

We present a theoretical model of an AlGaN-GaN high electron mobility field effect transistor (HEMT) that includes a nonlinear model of the strain polarization fields produced at the heterointerface. Recent experimental work has indicated that the macroscopic polarization in III-nitride alloys is a nonlinear function of the material composition. It is well known that the behavior of a GaN-AlGaN HEMT depends greatly upon the properties of the strain-induced polarization fields formed at the GaN-AlGaN heterointerface. It is the purpose of this paper to provide a detailed model of a GaN-AlGaN HEMT that includes a nonlinear formulation of the polarization. The model is found to agree well with recent experimental measurements made for GaN-AlGaN HEMTs when the nonlinear polarization model is included. The cutoff frequency, transconductance, and current-voltage characteristics are computed. The effect of the nonlinear polarization model on the sheet carrier density is also presented.     

Pseudomorphic In/sub 0.52/Al/sub 0.48/As/In/sub 0.7/Ga/sub 0.3/As HEMTs with an ultrahigh f/sub T/ of 562 GHz

We fabricated decananometer-gate pseudomorphic In/sub 0.52/Al/sub 0.48/As/In/sub 0.7/Ga/sub 0.3/As high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) with a very short gate-channel distance. We obtained a cutoff frequency f/sub T/ of 562 GHz for a 25-nm-gate HEMT. This f/sub T/ is the highest value ever reported for any transistor. The ultrahigh f/sub T/ of our HEMT can be explained by an enhanced electron velocity under the gate, which was a result of reducing the gate-channel distance.     

High-frequency MESFET noise modeling including distributed effects

A microwave field-effect transistor (FET) noise analysis is presented including distributed effects caused by the wave propagation along the width of the gate. Using this model the noise characteristics of submicron gate MESFETs at frequencies beyond 20 GHz are evaluated. It is ascertained that in the case of well-designed quarter-micron low-noise MESFETs, distributed effects may be neglected. Common lumped approximations, on the other hand, are shown to produce noticeable deviations. An improved lumped model is proposed. The analysis presented can also be used with high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) devices after introducing adequate geometry and small-signal parameters     

PI/Cr钝化对提高AlGaN/GaN HEMTs 击穿电压的研究

A novel AlGaN/GaN high electric mobility transistor（HEMT） with polyimide（PI）/chromium（Cr） as thepassivationlayerisproposedforenhancingbreakdownvoltageanditsDCperformanceisalsoinvestigated.The Cr nanoparticles firstly introduced in PI thin films by the co-evaporation can be used to increase the permittivity of PI film. The high-permittivity PI/Cr passivation acting as field plate can suppress the fringing electric field peak at the drain-side edge of the gate electrode. This mechanism is demonstrated in accord with measured results. The experimental results show that in comparison with the AlGaN/GaN HEMTs without passivation, the breakdown voltage of HEMTs with the PI/Cr composite thin films can be significantly improved, from 122 to 248 V.