Microwave AlGaN/GaN HFETs

This article presents the operating physics, performance potential, and status of device development of microwave AlGaN/GaN heterostructure field-effect transistors. AlGaN/GaN HFETs show potential for use in improved RF performance microwave amplifier applications. Development progress has been rapid, and prototype devices have demonstrated RF output power density as high as 30 W/mm. Microwave amplifier output power is rapidly approaching 100 W for single-chip operation, and these devices may soon find application for cellular base station transmitter applications. Devices are being developed for use in X-band radars, and RF performance is rapidly improving. The HFET devices experience several physical effects that can limit performance. These effects consist of nonlinearities introduced during the high-current and high-voltage portions of the RF cycle. High-current phenomena involve the operation of the conducting channel above the critical current density for initiation of space-charge effects. The source resistance is modulated in magnitude by the channel current, and high source resistance results. High voltage effects include reverse leakage of the gate electrode and subsequent charge trapping effects on the semiconductor surface, and RF breakdown in the conducting channel. These effects can produce premature saturation effects. Also, under certain conditions, high voltage operation of the device can initiate an IMPATT mode of operation. When this occurs, the channel current increases and RF gain is increased. This phenomenon enhances the RF output power of the device. The physical limiting effects can be controlled with proper design, and the outlook for use of these devices in practical applications is excellent.     

基于GaN器件的固态射频电源应用研究

随着电力电子技术的发展,射频电源由电子管电源发展成现在的晶体管射频电源。氮化镓GaN(gallium nitride)作为第三代宽禁带半导体材料的典型代表,具有宽禁带、高临界击穿场强、高电子饱和漂移速度以及高导通的AlGaN/GaN异质结二维电子气2DEG(two-dimensional electrons gas)等优点。GaN功率器件与硅(Si)功率器件相比,具有导通阻抗低,输入、输出电容小等特性,这些特性使得GaN功率器件高开关速度、低损耗。在E类功率射频电源的基础上,采用GaN功率器件设计制作了一款开关频率为4 MHz、功率可调的全固态射频电源实验样机。通过电路的设计和优化,样机的输出功率为21.4 W时,效率达到了96.7%;同时,采用专为射频电源生产的Si功率器件替换掉样机上的GaN器件,实验数据验证了GaN器件开关速度快、损耗低,可大幅度提高射频电源的效率。     

Advances in Linear Modeling of Microwave Transistors

Heterojunction field effect transistors (HFET) based on gallium nitride (AlGaN/GaN) and metal semiconductor field effect transistors (MESFETs) based on silicon carbide (SiC) are the preferred transistors for high-power amplifier circuit designs rather than MESFETs, high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) and pseudomorphic HEMTs based on gallium arsenide (GaAs) or indium phosphide (InP) semiconductor technology. While AlGaN/GaN and SiC are good candidates for high-power applications, GaAs and InP semiconductor technologies are the preferred transistors in low-power, low-voltage, and low-noise applications [1].     

AlGaN/GaN HFET reliability

High-voltage AlGaN/GaN HFETs are undergoing rapid development and are proving to be excellent candidates for application in communications base station transmitters and as power amplifiers for use in radar transmitters from C-band up to W-band. Nitride-based HFETs are capable of producing RF power significantly greater than that available from competing solid-state devices, with nearly ideal power-added efficiency. Early devices were plagued by reliability problems that limited their acceptance. Some of the reliability issues are discussed in the following.     

宽禁带功率电子器件及其应用专辑特邀主编述评

正相较于传统的硅器件,基于宽禁带半导体材料的功率电子器件在很多方面都体现出了优越的性能,符合功率变换器高效率、高工作温度及高功率密度的发展需求。近几年来,碳化硅(SiC)和氮化镓(GaN)功率器件的制造技术发展迅速,多家公司推出了系列商业化产品,宽禁带功率电子器件及其     

A high‐order curvature‐corrected CMOS bandgap voltage reference with constant current technique

A high‐order curvature‐corrected complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) bandgap voltage reference (BGR), utilizing the temperature‐dependent resistor and constant current technique, is presented. Considering the process variation, a resistor trimming network is introduced in this work. The circuit is implemented in a standard 0.35‐µm CMOS process. The measurement results have confirmed that the proposed BGR operates with a supply voltage of 1.8 V, consuming 45 μW at room temperature (25 °C), and the temperature coefficient of the output voltage reference is about 5.5 ppm/°C from −40 °C to 125 °C. The measured power supply rejection ratio is −38.8 dB at 1 kHz. The BGR is compatible with low‐voltage and low‐power circuit design when the structure of operational amplifiers and all the devices in the proposed bandgap reference are properly designed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

High performance 1 mm AlGaN/GaN HEMT based on SiC substrate

This is our first report on the high performance 1 mm AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) which was developed using home-made AlGaN/GaN epitaxy structures based on SiC substrate. Metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) was used to generate the epitaxy layers. Corresponding experiments show that the device has a gate length of 0.8 μm exhibiting drain current density of 1.16 A/mm, transconductance of 241 ms/mm, a gate-drain breakdown voltage larger than 80 V, maximum current gain frequency of 20 GHz and maximum power gain frequency of 28 GHz. In addition, the power gain under the continues wave condition is 14.2 dB with a power density of 4.1 W/mm, while under the pulsed wave condition, power gain reaches 14.4 dB with power density at 5.2 W/mm. Furthermore, the two-port network impedance characteristics display great potential in microwave application. __________ Translated from Chinese Journal of Semiconductors, 2006, 27(11): 1981–1983 [译自: 半导体学报]     

六英寸Si基GaN功率电子材料及器件的制备与研究

氮化镓(GaN)作为第三代半导体材料的代表,具有优异的材料物理特性,更加适合于下一代电力电子系统对功率开关器件更大功率、更高频率、更小体积和更恶劣工作温度的要求。为了兼容Si基CMOS工艺流程,以及考虑到大尺寸、低成本等优势,在Si衬底上进行GaN材料的异质外延及器件制备已经成为业界主要技术路线。详细介绍了在6英寸Si衬底上外延生长的AlGaN/GaN HEMT结构功率电子材料,以及基于6英寸CMOS产线制造Si基GaN功率MIS-HEMT和常关型Cascode GaN器件的相关成果。     

Aging and Stability of GaN High Electron Mobility Transistors and Light-Emitting Diodes With $hbox{TiB}_{2}$- and Ir-Based Contacts

There is interest in developing more stable contacts to a variety of GaN-based devices. In this paper, we give two examples of devices that show improved thermal stability when boride or Ir diffusion barriers are employed in ohmic-contact stacks. AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) were fabricated with Ti/Al/X/Ti/Au source-drain ohmic (where X is or Ir) contacts and were subjected to long-term annealing at 350 . By comparison with companion devices with conventional Ti/Al/Ni/Au ohmic contacts, the HEMTs with boride-based ohmic metal showed superior stability of both source-drain current and transconductance after 25 days of aging at 350 . The gate current for standard HEMTs increases during aging, and the standard ohmic contacts eventually fail by shorting to the gate contact. Similarly, InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well light-emitting diodes (MQW-LEDs) were fabricated with either Ni/Au//Ti/Au or Ni/Au/Ir/Au p-ohmic contacts. Both of these contacts showed superior long-term thermal stability compared to LEDs with conventional Ni/Au contacts.     

Is self-heating responsible for the current collapse in GaN HEMTs?

AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) are a very promising technology for switching and radio frequency power applications due to the high saturation velocity and large breakdown field of the GaN material. However, the electrical reliability of this material system in both the on and the off-state operation regimes is still a fundamental problem to be solved before the widespread use of this technology can be made.     

Long-wavelength quantum-dot lasers on GaAs substrates: from media to device concepts

Recent progress in semiconductor quantum-dot (QD) lasers approaches qualitatively new levels, when dramatic progress in the development of the active medium already motivates search for new concepts in device and system designs. QDs, which represent coherent inclusions of narrower bandgap semiconductor in a wider gap semiconductor matrix, offer a possibility to extend the wavelength range of heterostructure lasers on GaAs substrates to 1.3 /spl mu/m and beyond and create devices with dramatically improved performance, as compared to commercial lasers on InP substrates. Low-threshold current density (100 A/cm/sup 2/), very high characteristic temperature (170 K up to 65/spl deg/C), and high differential efficiency (85%) are realized in the same device. The possibility to stack QDs (e.g., tenfold) without an increase in the threshold current density and any degradation of the other device parameters allow realization of high modal gain devices suitable for applications in 1.3-/spl mu/m short-cavity transmitters and vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs). The 1.3-/spl mu/m QD GaAs VCSELs operating at 1.2-mW continuous-wave output power at 25/spl deg/C are realized, and long operation lifetime is manifested. Evolution of GaAs-based 1.3-/spl mu/m lasers offers a unique opportunity for telecom devices and systems. Single-epitaxy VCSEL vertical integration with intracavity electrooptic modulators for lasing wavelength adjustment and/or ultrahigh-frequency wavelength modulation is possible. Arrays of wavelength-tunable VCSELs and wavelength-tunable resonant-cavity photodetectors may result in a new generation of "intelligent" cost-efficient systems for ultrafast data links in telecom.     

AlGaN/GaN异质结肖特基二极管研究进展

氮化镓GaN(gallium nitride)作为第三代半导体材料的代表之一,具有临界击穿电场强、耐高温和饱和电子漂移速度高等优点,在电力电子领域有广泛的应用前景。GaN基器件具有击穿电压高、开关频率高、工作结温高、导通电阻低等优点,可以应用在新型高效、大功率的电力电子系统。总结了AlGaN/GaN异质结肖特基二极管SBD(Schottky barrier diode)目前面临的问题以及目前AlGaN/GaN异质结SBD结构、工作原理及结构优化的研究进展。重点从AlGaN/GaN异质结SBD的肖特基新结构和边缘终端结构等角度,介绍了各种优化SBD性能的方法。最后,对器件的未来发展进行了展望。     

An examination of recovery time of an integrated limiter/LNA

GaAs monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) are widely used in commercial and military microwave systems. Due to the fine geometry used in MMIC transistors, these circuits are susceptible to damage from high-power spurious electromagnetic (EM) radiation, either from microwave transmitters or nuclear electromagnetic pulse. Especially, low noise amplifiers (LNAs) in the front-end of microwave systems need high power protection because these amplifiers can sustain only low input power levels in the range of 10-20 dBm continuous wave (CW). To protect these circuits and maintain low noise figure, a high power and low loss limiter is required. The purpose of this application note is to document the test methodology employed and test results achieved measuring the small-signal gain recovery time of a balanced LNA with an integrated Schottky diode limiter and high power load.     

Power‐efficient burst‐mode RF transmitter based on reference‐adaptive multilevel pulse‐width modulation

Burst‐mode operation of power amplifier (PA) based on multilevel pulse‐width modulation (MPWM) has been frequently discussed as a potential solution to achieve higher efficiency in radio frequency (RF) transmitters. In this paper, a novel multilevel PWM modulator is proposed that utilizes adaptive triangular reference waveforms. As compared with conventional MPWM modulators, the proposed architecture provides significant wider design space such that the efficiency of system can be effectively optimized. A general transmitter architecture based on the proposed concept is analyzed in terms of power efficiency. Efficiency optimization procedures are presented according to input magnitude statistics. Based on the proposed modulator, an optimized 2.4‐GHz RF transmitter is designed in a 0.18‐μm complementary metal‐oxide‐semiconductor (CMOS) process. The circuit‐level simulations show that it delivers 25.8‐dBm peak output power with 46.1% peak efficiency. For a 20‐MHz worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) signal with 8.5‐dB peak‐to‐average‐power ratio (PAPR), this transmitter achieves 28.8% (average) efficiency at 17.3‐dBm (average) output power with an error vector magnitude (EVM) of 2.97% rms.     

Strain effects in SiN-passivated GaN-based HEMT devices

The use of a passivating layer can reduce or even eliminate surface effects responsible for limiting both the RF current and breakdown voltage of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs. To study the effect of passivation on electrical characteristics of GaN-based devices, we have developed a macroscopic model of strain in SiN/AlGaN/GaN heterostructure, considering the system as a free-standing one. Basing on the strain results, we have calculated the strain map for a SiN-passivated structure and the electron sheet charge density in the channel. Results have been compared with experimental measurements and with an alternative passivation model.     

GaN高电子迁移率晶体管的研究进展

GaN高电子迁移率晶体管(HEMT)是GaN微波功率器件的主要形式,是第3代半导体技术领域发展和竞争的焦点.针对GaN HEMT的目标特性和电流崩塌现象,从材料结构设计和器件设计两方面概括了十几年来GaN HEMT器件性能优化的研究方法,并给出了国内外GaN HEMT器件微波功率特性目前的研究进展水平.     

宽带固态功率放大器的设计及实现

宽带固态功率功率放大器是固态发射机中的关键部件,广泛应用于软件无线电电台、有源相控阵雷达、综合化航空电子设备等领域中。以一款新研制的S波段宽带固态功率放大器为例,介绍了超宽带固态功率放大器的设计理论和方法,并用微波仿真软件ADS对功率管的输入、输出阻抗匹配电路及其偏置电路进行优化仿真设计。通过制作并测试此放大器,验证了该设计方法的可行性。最后,给出了测试数据它在2GHz～4 GHz的频带范围内,输入功率为25mW时,输出功率大于10W,带内功率起伏小于1.5dB。     

High‐efficiency UV LEDs using quaternary InAlGaN

High‐efficiency ultraviolet (UV) light sources are very attractive for application to the medical field, white lighting, high‐density memories, and so on. We have demonstrated that 300‐ to 370‐nm UV emission is considerably enhanced by the introduction of several percent of In into AlGaN due to an In‐segregation effect. We fabricated 310‐nm‐band UV LEDs with quaternary InAlGaN emitting layers on a sapphire substrate and obtained submilliwatt output power. We also fabricated 350‐nm‐band InAlGaN‐based quantum‐well LEDs on GaN substrates in order to eliminate the effects of threading dislocations. The maximum UV output power obtained was as high as 7.4 mW under room‐temperature CW operation. The maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE) was 1.1% with an injection current of 50 mA, which is the highest EQE ever obtained for 350‐nm‐band UV LEDs with top‐emission geometry. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 157(3): 43–51, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20287 Copyright © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

High-Temperature Very Low Frequency Noise-Based Investigation of Slow Transients in AlGaN/GaN MODFETs

The variations of the very low frequency noise (i.e., 100 mHz to 100 kHz) and the dc characteristics of unpassivated AlGaN/GaN modulation-doped field-effect transistors (MODFETs) with temperature from 300 to 500 K are investigated. The rise in temperature to 500 K is shown to reveal generation-recombination (G-R) noise characteristics within the 100 mHz to 1 Hz frequency range. It is experimentally evidenced that these manifestations can predict the existence of very slow transients in the drain-current characteristics of AlGaN/GaN MODFETs. Due to the very long time constant of the transients at room temperature (i.e., on the order of several hours or even days), the observed features can be classified as semipermanent. The comparison between the energy levels predicted by the noise data and the levels previously reported in literature supports these observations.     

半导体GaN功率开关器件的结构改进

针对现有的光伏逆变器半导体GaN（氮化镓,Gallium nitride）功率开关器件以难以适应现代电力电子系统高要求的问题,提出一种光伏逆变器半导体GaN功率开关器件结构改进方法。由于集电极-发射极击穿电压和饱和压降是衡量器件可靠性的重要指标,因此采用绝缘栅混合阳极二极管取代平面肖特基势垒二极管,解决集电极-发射集击穿电压和饱和压降输出不合理问题。改进后的器件阳极由肖特基栅极和欧姆阳极金属短接组成,阴极为欧姆金属;改进器件制作主要采用隔离、钝化、凹槽刻蚀、介质淀积等工艺,更好地实现功率开关和功率转换功能。经测试分析可知：改进后的功率开关器件能有效减少反向饱和漏电状况,且改进器件的温度与电压、比导通电阻成正比,高温下性能良好。