547-GHz f/sub t/ In/sub 0.7/Ga/sub 0.3/As-In/sub 0.52/Al/sub 0.48/As HEMTs with reduced source and drain resistance

We fabricated 30-nm gate pseudomorphic channel In/sub 0.7/Ga/sub 0.3/As-In/sub 0.52/Al/sub 0.48/As high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) with reduced source and drain parasitic resistances. A multilayer cap structure consisting of Si highly doped n/sup +/-InGaAs and n/sup +/-InP layers was used to reduce these resistances while enabling reproducible 30-nm gate process. The HEMTs also had a laterally scaled gate-recess that effectively enhanced electron velocity, and an adequately long gate-channel distance of 12nm to suppress gate leakage current. The transconductance (g/sub m/) reached 1.5 S/mm, and the off-state breakdown voltage (BV/sub gd/) defined at a gate current of -1 mA/mm was -3.0 V. An extremely high current gain cutoff frequency (f/sub t/) of 547 GHz and a simultaneous maximum oscillation frequency (f/sub max/) of 400 GHz were achieved: the best performance yet reported for any transistor.     

Reliability investigation of 0.07-/spl mu/m InGaAs-InAlAs-InP HEMT MMICs with pseudomorphic In/sub 0.75/Ga/sub 0.25/As channel

The authors have investigated the reliability performance of G-band (183 GHz) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) amplifiers fabricated using 0.07-/spl mu/m T-gate InGaAs-InAlAs-InP HEMTs with pseudomorphic In/sub 0.75/Ga/sub 0.25/As channel on 3-in wafers. Life test was performed at two temperatures (T/sub 1/ = 200 /spl deg/C and T/sub 2/ = 215 /spl deg/C), and the amplifiers were stressed at V/sub ds/ of 1 V and I/sub ds/ of 250 mA/mm in a N/sub 2/ ambient. The activation energy is as high as 1.7 eV, achieving a projected median-time-to-failure (MTTF) /spl ap/ 2 /spl times/ 10/sup 6/ h at a junction temperature of 125 /spl deg/C. MTTF was determined by 2-temperature constant current stress using /spl Delta/G/sub mp/ = -20% as the failure criteria. The difference of reliability performance between 0.07-/spl mu/m InGaAs-InAlAs-InP HEMT MMICs with pseudomorphic In/sub 0.75/Ga/sub 0.25/As channel and 0.1-/spl mu/m InGaAs-InAlAs-InP HEMT MMICs with In/sub 0.6/Ga/sub 0.4/As channel is also discussed. The achieved high-reliability result demonstrates a robust 0.07-/spl mu/m pseudomorphic InGaAs-InAlAs-InP HEMT MMICs production technology for G-band applications.     

Microwave performance of 0.4 mu m gate metamorphic In/sub 0.29/Al/sub 0.71/As/In/sub 0.3/Ga/sub 0.7/As HEMT on GaAs substrate

MBE grown metamorphic In/sub 0.29/Al/sub 0.71/As/In/sub 0.3/Ga/sub 0.7/As/GaAs high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) have been successfully fabricated. A 0.4 mu m triangular gate device showed transconductance as high as 700 mS/mm at a current density of 230 mA/mm. The measured f/sub T/ was 45 GHz and f/sub max/ was 115 GHz. These high values are, to the authors knowledge, the first reported for submicrometre metamorphic InAlAs/InGaAs/GaAs HEMTs with an indium content of 30%.<>     

Highly linear Al/sub 0.3/Ga/sub 0.7/N-Al/sub 0.05/Ga/sub 0.95/N-GaN composite-channel HEMTs

We report an Al/sub 0.3/Ga/sub 0.7/N-Al/sub 0.05/Ga/sub 0.95/N-GaN composite-channel HEMT with enhanced linearity. By engineering the channel region, i.e., inserting a 6-nm-thick AlGaN layer with 5% Al composition in the channel region, a composite-channel HEMT was demonstrated. Transconductance and cutoff frequencies of a 1 /spl times/100 /spl mu/m HEMT are kept near their peak values throughout the low- and high-current operating levels, a desirable feature for linear power amplifiers. The composite-channel HEMT exhibits a peak transconductance of 150 mS/mm, a peak current gain cutoff frequency (f/sub T/) of 12 GHz and a peak power gain cutoff frequency (f/sub max/) of 30 GHz. For devices grown on sapphire substrate, maximum power density of 3.38 W/mm, power-added efficiency of 45% are obtained at 2 GHz. The output third-order intercept point (OIP3) is 33.2 dBm from two-tone measurement at 2 GHz.     

High transconductance of 2.25 S/mm observed at 16 K for 195-nm-gate In/sub 0.75/Ga/sub 0.25/As/In/sub 0.52/Al/sub 0.48/As HEMT fabricated on [411]A-oriented InP substrate

We achieved a maximum transconductance (g/sub m/) of 2.25 S/mm at 16 K for a 195-nm-gate In/sub 0.75/Ga/sub 0.25/As/In/sub 0.52/Al/sub 0.48/As pseudomorphic high-electron mobility transistor (PHEMT) fabricated on a [411]A-oriented InP substrate, which is the highest value ever reported for HEMTs. This PHEMT also showed a much enhanced cutoff frequency (f/sub T/) of 310 GHz at 16 K, compared with its room temperature value (245 GHz). The significantly enhanced g/sub m/ and f/sub T/ at 16 K can be attributed to the higher saturation velocity in the region "under the gate," which is caused not only by suppressing the phonon scattering, but also by suppressing the interface roughness scattering due to the "(411)A super-flat InGaAs/InAlAs interfaces" (effectively atomically flat heterointerfaces over a wafer-size area).     

0.5 mu m gate length InP/In/sub 0.75/Ga/sub 0.25/As/InP pseudomorphic HEMT with high DC and RF performance

High performance InP/In/sub 0.75/Ga/sub 0.25/As/InP pseudomorphic double heterojunction (DH) HEMTs with a gate length of 0.5 mu m are reported. Both DC and RF characteristics of this new type of Al-free HEMT demonstrate its suitability for microwave applications.<>     

Al/sub 0.25/Ga/sub 0.75/As/In/sub 0.25/Ga/sub 0.75/As pseudomorphic MODFET with high DC and RF performance

AlGaAs/InGaAs MODFETs having 25% indium in the channel and L/sub G/=0.35 mu m have been fabricated. From DC device characterisation, a maximum saturation current of 670 mA/mm and an extrinsic transconductance of 500 mS/mm have been measured. A maximum unilateral gain cutoff frequency of f/sub c/=205 GHz and a maximum current gain cutoff frequency of f/sub T/=86 GHz have been achieved. Bias dependence of f/sub c/ and f/sub T/ has been measured. At 12 GHz a minimum noise figure of NF=0.8 dB and an associated gain of 11 dB have been measured.<>     

Performance improvement in tensile-strained In/sub 0.5/Al/sub 0.5/As/In/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/As/In/sub 0.5/Al/sub 0.5/As metamorphic HEMT

This paper proposes a In/sub 0.5/Al/sub 0.5/As/In/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/As/In/sub 0.5/Al/sub 0.5/As (x=0.3-0.5-0.3) metamorphic high-electron mobility transistor with tensile-strained channel. The tensile-strained channel structure exhibits significant improvements in dc and RF characteristics, including extrinsic transconductance, current driving capability, thermal stability, unity-gain cutoff frequency, maximum oscillation frequency, output power, power gain, and power added efficiency.     

High-temperature thermal stability performance in /spl delta/-doped In/sub 0.425/Al/sub 0.575/As--In/sub 0.65/Ga/sub 0.35/As metamorphic HEMT

We report, to our knowledge, the best high-temperature characteristics and thermal stability of a novel /spl delta/-doped In/sub 0.425/Al/sub 0.575/As--In/sub 0.65/Ga/sub 0.35/As--GaAs metamorphic high-electron mobility transistor. High-temperature device characteristics, including extrinsic transconductance (g/sub m/), drain saturation current density (I/sub DSS/), on/off-state breakdown voltages (BV/sub on//BV/sub GD/), turn-on voltage (V/sub on/), and the gate-voltage swing have been extensively investigated for the gate dimensions of 0.65/spl times/200 /spl mu/m/sup 2/. The cutoff frequency (f/sub T/) and maximum oscillation frequency (f/sub max/), at 300 K, are 55.4 and 77.5 GHz at V/sub DS/=2 V, respectively. Moreover, the distinguished positive thermal threshold coefficient (/spl part/V/sub th///spl part/T) is superiorly as low as to 0.45 mV/K.     

Simulation of quantum transport in monolithic ICs based on In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As-In/sub 0.52/Al/sub 0.48/As RTDs and HEMTs with a quantum hydrodynamic transport model

A new quantum hydrodynamic transport model based on a quantum fluid model is used for numerical calculations of different quantum sized devices. The simulation of monolithic integrated circuits of resonant tunneling structures and high electron mobility transistors (HEMT) based on In/sub 053/Ga/sub 0.47/As-In/sub 052/Al/sub 0.48/As-InP is demonstrated. With the new model, it is possible to describe quantum mechanical transport phenomena like resonant tunneling of carriers through potential barriers and particle accumulation in quantum wells. Different structure variations, especially the resonant tunneling diode area and the gate width of the HEMT structure, show variable modulations in the output characteristics of the monolithic integrated device.     

Influence of the dynamic access resistance in the g/sub m/ and f/sub T/ linearity of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs

The decrease of transconductance g/sub m/ and current gain cutoff frequency f/sub T/ at high drain current levels in AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) severely limits the linearity and power performance of these devices at high frequencies. In this paper, the increase of the differential source access resistance r/sub s/, with drain current is shown to play an important role in the fall of g/sub m/ and f/sub T/. The increase of r/sub s/ occurs due to the quasi-saturation of the electron velocity in the source region of the channel at electric fields higher than 10 kV/cm. This has been confirmed by both experimental measurements and two-dimensional drift-diffusion simulations. Through simulations, we have identified HEMT structures with source implanted regions (or n/sup ++/ cap layers) as good candidates in order to increase the linearity of the g/sub m/ and f/sub T/ versus current profile.     

Direct optical injection locking of monolithically integrated In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As/In/sub 0.52/Al/sub 0.48/As MODFET oscillators

The authors have fabricated monolithically integrated In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As/In/sub 0.52/Al/sub 0.48/As 0.25 mu m gate modulation-doped field effect transistor (MODFET) oscillators. The results of direct optical subharmonic injection locking of these oscillator circuits at 10.159 and 19.033 GHz are presented.<>     

Threshold voltage of submicron Ga/sub 0.47/In/sub 0.53/As HIGFETs

Presents threshold voltage data for Al/sub 0.48/In/sub 0.52/As/Ga/sub 0.47/In/sub 0.53/As/InP heterostructure insulated gate FETs (HIGFETs) with gate lengths from 1.2 mu m to 0.4 mu m. The refractory-gate, self-aligned fabrication process was applied to MBE-grown structures with 300 AA Ga/sub 0.47/In/sub 0.53/As channels and semi-insulating superlattice buffers to achieve sharp pinchoff with excellent threshold uniformity. HIGFETs with L/sub g/=1.2 mu m showed a threshold voltage of -0.076+or-0.019 V, making them well-suited to application in direct-coupled FET logic (DCFL) circuits.<>     

Room-temperature self-organised In/sub 0.5/Ga/sub 0.5/As quantum dot laser on silicon

The first room-temperature operation of In/sub 0.5/Ga/sub 0.5/As quantum dot lasers grown directly on Si substrates with a thin (/spl les/2 /spl mu/m) GaAs buffer layer is reported. The devices are characterised by J/sub th//spl sim/1500 A/cm/sup 2/, output power >50 mW, and large T/sub 0/ (244 K) and constant output slope efficiency (/spl ges/0.3 W/A) in the temperature range 5-95/spl deg/C.     

Device linearity comparison of uniformly doped and /spl delta/-doped In/sub 0.52/Al/sub 0.48/As/In/sub 0.6/Ga/sub 0.4/As metamorphic HEMTs

The uniformly doped and the /spl delta/-doped In/sub 0.52/Al/sub 0.48/As/In/sub 0.6/Ga/sub 0.4/As metamorphic high-electron mobility transistors (MHEMTs) were fabricated, and the dc characteristics and the third-order intercept point (IP3) of these devices were measured and compared. Due to more uniform electron distribution in the quantum-well region, the uniformly doped MHEMT exhibits a flatter transconductance (G/sub m/) versus drain-to-source current (I/sub DS/) curve and much better linearity with higher IP3 and higher IP3-to-P/sub dc/ ratio as compared to the /spl delta/-doped MHEMT, even though the /spl delta/-doped device exhibits higher peak transconductance. As a result, the uniformly doped MHEMT is more suitable for communication systems that require high linearity operation.     

Optical tuning of monolithic In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As/In/sub 0.52/Al/sub 0.48/As/InP modulation-doped field-effect transistor oscillators at X and R band

The authors have experimentally studied the optical control and optical tuning characteristics of monolithically integrated In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As/In/sub 0.52/Al/sub 0.48/As modulation-doped field-effect transistor (MODFET) oscillators operating in the X and R bands. For a 20 mu W intrinsic photoexcitation on the device, the maximum frequency shift for the X- and R-band oscillators was 8.7 and 11.7 MHz, respectively.<>     

A novel InGaP/Al/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/As/GaAs CEHBT

A new and interesting InGaP/Al/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/As/GaAs composite-emitter heterojunction bipolar transistor (CEHBT) is fabricated and studied. Based on the insertion of a compositionally linear graded Al/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/As layer, a near-continuous conduction band structure between the InGaP emitter and the GaAs base is developed. Simulation results reveal that a potential spike at the emitter/base heterointerface is completely eliminated. Experimental results show that the CEHBT exhibits good dc performances with dc current gain of 280 and greater than unity at collector current densities of J/sub C/=21kA/cm/sup 2/ and 2.70/spl times/10/sup -5/ A/cm/sup 2/, respectively. A small collector/emitter offset voltage /spl Delta/V/sub CE/ of 80 meV is also obtained. The studied CEHBT exhibits transistor action under an extremely low collector current density (2.7/spl times/10/sup -5/ A/cm/sup 2/) and useful current gains over nine decades of magnitude of collector current density. In microwave characteristics, the unity current gain cutoff frequency f/sub T/=43.2GHz and the maximum oscillation frequency f/sub max/=35.1GHz are achieved for a 3/spl times/20 /spl mu/m/sup 2/ device. Consequently, the studied device shows promise for low supply voltage and low-power circuit applications.     

MESFET-like transferred-electron devices in In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As

In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As transferred-electron devices with Schottky-gate electrodes were fabricated. These devices can be used in optoelectronic circuits on InP or as millimetre wave oscillators. For the realisation of the gate electrode several enhancement layers were tested to increase the Schottky barrier height on In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As. The triggering of single dipole domains in the device was demonstrated.<>     

Submicron-gate ion-implanted In/sub 0.15/Ga/sub 0.85/As/GaAs MESFETs with graded indium composition

0.25 mu m and 0.5 mu m gate ion-implanted MESFETs have been fabricated on In/sub 0.15/Ga/sub 0.85/As epitaxial layers. These layers are grown by MOCVD on three inch diameter GaAs substrates with the indium mole fraction graded from 15% at the InGaAs/GaAs heterointerface to 0% at the surface. Both devices show excellent DC and microwave performance. From S-parameter measurements, extrinsic current gain cutoff frequencies f/sub t/ of 120 and 61 GHz are obtained for the 0.25 mu m and 0.5 mu m gate MESFETs, respectively. The authors investigate the potential of small-bandgap InGaAs materials for submicron-gate MESFET applications.<>     

Reduction of 1/f noise in multiplexed linear In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As detector arrays via epitaxial doping

A significant (2-5*) reduction in 1/f noise was observed in In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As photodetector arrays read out by a PMOS multiplexer, when the epitaxial InP cap layer doping was changed from undoped to sulfur-doped n type of about 3*10/sup 16/ cm/sup -3/. A further decrease was observed when the InP buffer layer was also changed from undoped to sulfur-doped n type of about 5*10/sup 17/ cm/sup -3/. Data was presented for the variation of 1/f noise, within a temperature range of 18 degrees C to -40 degrees C. Surface states at the InP cap/SiN interface appears to be the primary source of 1/f noise, with the bulk states at the n/sup -/In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As buffer hetero-interface as a secondary source. Increased n-type doping in the high-bandgap InP cap and buffer layers may reduce electron trapping, and thus 1/f noise. The measured noise spectrum of InGaAs photodetectors varies as f/sup y/ with y being approximately -0.45 for device structures with doped and undoped InP can layers. For a doped InP buffer layer, this value of y is -0.3.<>