Avalanche noise in GaAs m.e.s.f.e.t.s

Instabilities in the d.c. characteristics of GaAs m.e.s.f.e.t.s for drain to source voltages greater than 4 V. believed to be due to reloading of traps in the interface between active layer and bulk material, or gunn-domain formation, seem to have their origin in avalanche breakdown of the back diode under the drain contact. Microplasma switching, vertical to the active layer, strongly modulates the drain current producing large broadband noise power.     

New n-channel m.o.s.f.e.t.s

By using plasma c.v.d. and lift-off, an n-channel m.o.s.f.e.t. with effective channel length of 0.4 ?m has been fabricated. Its main fabrication processes and obtained electrical characteristics are described.     

Low-noise GaAs m.e.s.f.e.t.s

GaAs m.e.s.f.e.t.s with optimum noise figures of 1.6 dB at 6 GHz have been fabricated by projection photolithography. An equation has been developed for the calculation of optimum noise figure which gives good agreement between calculated and measured values.     

Performance of GaAs power m.e.s.f.e.t.s

Power performance results at 4 GHz are summarised for GaAs m.e.s.f.e.t.s ranging in size from 4 to 16 mm gate periphery. A double-chip 16 mm unit operated at 24 V source-drain bias produced 13.5 W with 3 dB gain and 10.7 W with 8.1 dB gain. Although lack of perfect power and gain scaling is observed, the degradation in output power of the 16 mm devices was only 1 dB compared to the smaller devices.     

High-speed 1 ?m GaAs m.e.s.f.e.t.

By minimising parasitic series resistances, a GaAs m.e.s.f.e.t. with 1 ?m gate length was fabricated, possessing the highest known r.f. power gain, measured up to 18 GHz, for GaAs m.e.s.f.e.t.s.     

Effect of neutron and gamma irradiation on the low-frequency noise in GaAs m.e.s.f.e.t.s

Low-frequency noise in GaAs m.e.s.f.e.t.s has been measured from 2 kHz to 1.5 MHz as a function of fast neutron fluence and gamma dose. From 5 × 1013 to 8 × 1014 n/cm2, the noise increases appreciably, with the noise enhancement from 2 to 10 kHz attributed to generation-recombination noise in the gate depletion layer and from 500 kHz to 1.5 MHz to channel trapping effects. There was comparably little change with gamma irradiation up to doses above 107 rad (Si).     

Substrate conduction in GaAs m.e.s.f.e.t.s

Substrate currents in a gateless GaAs m.e.s.f.e.t. have been measured at d.c, 0.9 MHz and 2 GHz. The results are consistent with the assumption of substrate conduction at high frequencies and active-layer conduction alone at low frequencies.     

High-efficiency GaAs m.e.s.f.e.t. amplifiers

High-efficiency c.w. amplification with GaAs m.e.s.f.e.t.s under class-B conditions has been demonstrated. Power added efficiencies as high as 68% at 4 GHz and 41% at 8 GHz have been achieved. Two-tone tests were carried out at 4 GHz. The power added efficiencies at the 3rd-order intermodulation levels of ?20, ?25 and ?30 dB were 49, 40 and 35% respectively.     

Modelling the m.e.s.f.e.t. output nonlinearity

Conditions governing the modelling of transductance and drain-conductance nonlinearities from measured data are investigated. A simple representation for regions close to pinch-off, corresponding to mixer operation, is obtained. Results of the modelling are compared to measurements on a typical 1 ?m gate length m.e.s.f.e.t.     

Micrometre-gate m.e.s.f.e.t.s on laser-annealed polysilicon

Schottky-barrier field-effect transistors (m.e.s.f.e.t.s) have been fabricated on uniformly doped laser-annealed polycrystalline silicon deposited on a silicon nitride insulator. The devices, which had aluminium Schottky-barrier gates and diffused n+ sources and drains but nonoptimised channel profiles, had about 65% the gm values of similar but optimised devices made on s.o.s. layers. Performance of these devices is considered adequate for certain innovative integrated-circuit technologies.     

GaAs m.e.s.f.e.t.: a high-speed optical detector

The application of a GaAs m.e.s.f.e.t. as a high-speed optical detector has been investigated and compared with the result of a fast a.p.d.     

Low-frequency noise in GaAs Schottky-gate f.e.t.s.

Measurements of the low-frequency noise in GaAs Schotty-gate f.e.t. channels have been performed from 10 Hz to 0.5 MHz between ?120 and +21 °C. Diffusion and recombination noise sources appear to be predominant at low temperatures for low-power-level conditions. Nous avons entrepris la mesure du bruit basse fréquence prenant naissance dans le canal des f.e.t. à l'arséniure de gallium pour des fréquences allant de 10 Hz à 0. 5 MHz et une température comprise entre ?120 et +21 °C. Nous avons mis en évidence que pour de faibles puissances dissipées les sources de bruit principales à basse température ont pour origine des phénomènes de diffusion et de génération recombinaison.     

Dual-gate m.e.s.f.e.t. self-oscillating X-band mixers

GaAs dual-gate m.e.s.f.e.t.s have been successfully used as self-oscillating down-convertors in X-band. A single device replaces the preamplifier, mixer and local oscillator. The best conversion gain achieved by mixing from 10 GHz down to 1 GHz was 12 dB. The input (gate 1) to output (drain) port isolation amounted to 16 dB. Slug-tuner and `disc?-resonator circuits were tested and showed comparable gain and noise performance. Best d.s.b. noise figures of 5.5 dB could be realised at an i.f. of 1 GHz with an associated conversion gain of 4 dB.     

GaAs power m.e.s.f.e.t.s. with a graded recess structure

A new recess structure device was developed to improve the field distrubution and therfore the performance of GaAs power m.e.s.f.e.t.s. The linear gain and the output power were improved by 1?2 dB for this structure. The highest output powers obtained are 15 W with 4 dB associated gain at 6 GHz, and 4.3 W with 3 dB associated gain at 11 GHz.     

Two-dimensional electron gas m.e.s.f.e.t. structure

The first m.e.s.f.e.t. structure is reported in which the channel near pinch-off is occupied by a two-dimensional electron gas accumulated at the interface of a GaAs(N)-AlxGa1?xAs(N) heterojunction. Experimental data are in good agreement with theoretical calculations.     

Conversion gain of m.e.s.f.e.t. drain mixers

A theoretical analysis of the gain properties of m.e.s.f.e.t. drain mixers is presented. The m.e.s.f.e.t. model includes the nonlinearity of both the transconductance and the drain resistance. For a special case, a simple analytical expression for the gain is given. Numerical results for a typical example are briefly presented as an illustration.     

Modelling of Gunn-domain effects in GaAs m.e.s.f.e.t.s

GaAs m.e.s.f.e.t. [S22] values larger than unity have been measured from 1 to 10 GHz in the region where the ID/VD curves display a negative slope. An explanation of this phenomenon is proposed in terms of Gunn-domain formation. An equivalent-circuit model which includes this effect is presented and discussed.     

New structure of enhancement-mode GaAs microwave m.o.s.f.e.t.

This letter proposes a new feasible device structure of an enhancement-mode GaAs deep-depletion m.o.s.f.e.t. as an attractive alternative to the junction-gate f.e.t.s and describes its microwave properties. The device has been fabricated on a high-resistance epitaxial n?-layer by simple readily available technology without requiring the sophisticated control of the channel thickness needed for the conventional junction-gate f.e.t.s. The 'normally-off nature of the device can be explained on the basis of the substrate space-charge region extending over then?-layer. The microwave performance of the device can be favourably compared with that of currently achievable junction-gate normally-off f.e.t.s. Unilateral gain drops to zero at a frequency slightly above 7 GHz.     

Substrate dependence of InP m.e.s.f.e.t. performance

There is evidence to suggest that Fe outdiffuses, during the growth, into the epitaxial films prepared by vapour-phase epitaxy at 650°C. Field-effect transistors on Fe-doped material show substantial looping that was absent on Cr-doped material and exhibit about 2 dB worse noise figure at about 7 GHz. Experiments with low 1015 S-doped InP grown on Sn-, Cr- and Fe-doped substates indicate that such outdiffusion is typically about 5 ?m. Saturation velocity levels in the m.e.s.f.e.t. channel are about 1.7 × 107 cm/s and 1.3 × 107 cm/s, associated with Cr and Fe doped substrates, respectively.