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.     

n-channel inversion-mode InP m.i.s.f.e.t.

Capacitance/voltage and m.i.s.f.e.t. inversion-mode f.e.t. data are reported for p-type InP. It is shown that the surface of this material appears to be inverted at zero gate bias and that good inversion-mode (normally-off) device behaviour is possible.     

Enhancement-mode ion-implanted InP f.e.t.s

Planar enhancement-mode InP f.e.t.s have been fabricated through the use of ion implantation and subsequent electron-beam lithography. Noise figures of 3.2 and 2.6 dB were achieved at 8 GHz with associated gains of 6.4 and 4.7 dB, respectively.     

Microwave power amplification with InP f.e.t.s

InP f.e.t.s were fabricated from v.p.e. layers, with an Al gate of 1.5 ?m × 308 ?m. The power output at 9 GHz, with 4 dB gain, was 1.15 W/mm gate width. This result is believed to be higher than the best published results obtained with equivalent GaAs f.e.t. structures.     

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.     

Integration of GaAs m.e.s.f.e.t.s and Gunn elements in a 4 bit-gate device

A GaAs m.e.s.f.e.t. and a Schottky electrode-triggered Gunn element have been integrated into a single device which operated as a negative logic inhibitor. A monolithic device of four such inhibitors, connected in cascade, was operated in a stable manner, with a signal delay per gate as small as 40 ps.     

Microwave gain from an n-channel enhancement-mode InP m.i.s.f.e.t.

A power gain of 14 dB at 1 GHz has been demonstrated in an enhancement-mode m.i.s.f.e.t. constructed on an Fe-doped semi-insulating InP substrate. The same device also exhibits well behaved gain characteristics at low frequencies.     

n-channel formation on semi-insulating InP surface by m.i.s.f.e.t.

InP m.i.s.f.e.t.s using Fe-doped semi-insulating material surface have been fabricated. The devices, composed of sulphur-diffused n-type source and drain and c.v.d. Al2O3 gate insulator, exhibited n-channel normally-off behaviour and a source drain capacitance two orders of magnitude smaller than that of p-InP m.i.s.f.e.t.s with the same dimensions.     

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.     

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-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.     

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.     

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.     

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 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 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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

X and Ku band GaAs m.e.s.f.e.t.

A GaAs Schottky-barrier f.e.t. (m.e.s.f.e.t.) with a 1 ?m gate has been built, which is suitable for X band and Ku band applications. The unilateral power gain over the X band is above 9 dB and the noise figure is only 5 dB at 10 GHz.