Low-frequency noise properties of selectively dry etched InP HEMT's

The low-frequency noise of lattice-matched InAlAs/InGaAs/InP high electron mobility transistors (HEMT's) gate recess etched with a highly selective dry etching process and with conventional wet etching were studied at different gate and drain biases for the temperature range of 77-340 K. The measurements showed a significantly lower normalized drain current 1/f noise for the dry etched HEMT's under all bias conditions. No difference in the normalized gate current 1/f noise could be observed for the two device types. By varying the temperature, four electron traps could be identified in the drain current noise spectra for both dry and wet etched devices. No additional traps were introduced by the dry etching step. The concentration of the main trap in the Schottky layer is one order of magnitude lower for the dry etched HEMT's. No hydrogen passivation of the shallow donors was observed in these devices. We presume hydrogen passivation of the deep levels as the cause for the trap density reduction. The kink effect in the dry etched HEMT's was observed to be reduced significantly compared with wet etched devices which gives further evidence of trap passivation during dry etching. These results show that dry etched InP HEMT's have suitable characteristics for the fabrication of devices for noise sensitive applications     

Planar-doped n-type InAlAs/InGaAs MODFETs on InP(311)A substratesby molecular beam epitaxy

N-type doping of silicon in InAlAs/InGaAs/InP modulation-doped field effect transistor (MODFET) structures grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) for the (311)A orientation has been achieved by using the planar-doping technique. An electron mobility as high as 50000 cm² V-s with a sheet carrier concentration of 1.9×10¹²/cm² at 77 K is reported. MODFETs with 1.2-μm gate length exhibit an extrinsic transconductance of 400 mS/mm and a maximum drain current of 485 mA/mm. The results are comparable to those of MODFETs grown on (100) InP substrates. The results point to the possibility of making p-n multi layer structures with all-silicon doping     

MOVPE grown InAlAs/InGaAs/InP MODFETs with very high f/sub T/

High-performance 0.15 mu m gate length modulation-doped field-effect transistors (MODFETs) have been fabricated on a lattice-matched InAlAs/InGaAs heterostructure grown by organic vapour phase epitaxy (MOVPE). Excellent 'kink-free' DC characteristics with extrinsic transconductance g/sub m/ of 1080 mS/mm at a drain current of 508 mA/mm have been achieved. A unity current-gain cutoff frequency f/sub T/ of 187 GHz at room temperature has been measured, which is the highest value reported for MOVPE-grown lattice-matched InAlAs/InGaAs MODFETs.<>     

High performance double-doped InAlAs/InGaAs/InP heterojunction FET with potential for millimetre-wave power applications

Lattice matched InAlAs/InGaAs/InP heterojunction field-effect transistors (HJFETs), which have carrier supplying layers on and beneath the undoped InGaAs channel layer, have been successfully fabricated. A selective recess of the InGaAs channel edge at a mesa sidewall together with the use of a wide recess gate structure leads to a 5.7 V gate-drain breakdown voltage without kink effects. The fabricated HJFET with a 0.15*100 mu m/sup 2/ T-shaped gate exhibits a 700 mA/mm maximum drain current, a voltage gain of 14, and a 345 GHz maximum frequency of oscillation.<>     

Enhanced Gate Swing in InP HEMTs With High Threshold Voltage by Means of InAlAsSb Barrier

We demonstrated the suitability of the InP HEMTs with the InAlAsSb Schottky barrier to realize the high threshold voltage (enhancement mode), low gate current, and low power consumption. This quaternary compound material increases the conduction band discontinuity to the InGaAs channel by introducing only 10% of antimony to InAlAs. The gate current is reduced by an order of the magnitude (or even more) at gate voltage range from 0.4 to 0.8 V. On the other hand, the large conduction band discontinuity causes larger parasitic source and drain resistance, which decreases the extrinsic transconductance. Nevertheless, the high-frequency performance is comparable to the device with the conventional InAlAs barrier layer. Therefore, the InAlAsSb barrier is a promising option for logic applications, which requires reduced gate current. FETs, gate current, high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs), high frequency.     

InGaAs/InGaAlAs/InAlAs/InP SCH-MQW laser diodes grown by molecular-beam epitaxy

InGaAs/InGaAlAs/InAlAs/InP separate-confinement hetero-structure-multiquantum-well (SCH-MQW) laser diodes have been fabricated by molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE), and room-temperature pulsed operation at 1.57 ?m has been achieved. This SCH-MQW laser is composed of InGaAs well layers, InGaAlAs quaternary barrier layers, and InAlAs and InP cladding layers.     

Improvement of Impact Ionization Effect and Subthreshold Current in InAlAs/InGaAs Metal–Oxide–Semiconductor Metamorphic HEMT With a Liquid-Phase Oxidized InAlAs as Gate Insulator

The oxidation of InAlAs and its application to InAlAs/InGaAs metal-oxide-semiconductor metamorphic high-electron mobility transistors (MOS-MHEMTs) are demonstrated in this study. After the highly selective gate recessing of InGaAs/InAlAs using citric buffer etchant, the gate dielectric is obtained directly by oxidizing the InAlAs layer in a liquid-phase solution at near room temperature. As compared to its counterpart MHEMT, the fabricated InAlAs/InGaAs MOS-MHEMT exhibits a larger tolerance to gate bias, higher breakdown voltage, lower subthreshold current, improved gate leakage current with the effectively suppressed impact ionization effect, and improved radio-frequency performance. Consequently, the liquid-phase oxidation may also be used to produce gate oxides and as an effective passivation on III-V compound semiconductor devices     

Low-frequency noise characteristics of p-n-p InAlAs/InGaAs HBTs

The low-frequency noise characteristics of p-n-p InAlAs/InGaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) were investigated. Devices with various geometries were measured under different bias conditions. The base noise current spectral density (3.11 /spl times/ 10/sup -16/ A/sup 2//Hz) was found to be higher than the collector noise current spectral density (1.48 /spl times/ 10/sup -16/ A/sup 2//Hz) at 10 Hz under low bias condition (I/sub C/=1 mA, V/sub EC/=1 V), while the base noise current spectral density (2.04 /spl times/ 10/sup -15/ A/sup 2//Hz) is lower than the collector noise current spectral density (7.87 /spl times/ 10/sup -15/ A/sup 2//Hz) under high bias condition (I/sub C/=10 mA, V/sub EC/=2 V). The low-frequency noise sources were identified using the emitter-feedback technique. The results suggest that the low-frequency noise is a surface-related process. In addition, the dominant noise sources varied with bias levels.     

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.<>     

New aspects and mechanism of kink effect in InAlAs/InGaAs/InPinverted HFETs

The kink effect in InAlAs/InGaAs/InP composite channel heterojunction field effect transistors (HFETs) was investigated as a function of temperature and optical excitation. Drain source and gate current measurements show that above 325 K the kink effect disappears while the impact ionization process is still present. The kink at low temperatures is suppressed by illumination with photons of energy above 1 eV. These results prove that this parasitic effect is mainly related to the presence of traps in the top layers     

InAlAs/InGaAs/InP HEMTs with high breakdown voltages using double-recess gate process

The DC and RF performance of InAlAs/InGaAs/InP HEMTs fabricated using a double-recess gate process are reported. A gate-drain breakdown voltage as high as 16 V was observed. The HEMTs also exhibited a high source-drain breakdown voltage near pinchoff of 16 V and a low RF output conductance of 6 mS/mm. For a 1.4 mu m gate length, an intrinsic transconductance of 560 mS/mm and f/sub T/ and f/sub max/ values of 16 and 40 GHz, respectively, were achieved.<>     

Investigation of the impact of Al mole-fraction on the consequences of RF stress on Al/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/N/GaN MODFETs

Variations of the low-frequency noise (LFN), power, and dc characteristics of a variety of SiN/sub x/ passivated AlGaN/GaN MODFETs with different values of Al mole-fraction, gate length, and gate drain spacing upon RF stress are investigated. It is experimentally evidenced that the variation of Al mole-fraction (x) of the barrier Al/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/N layer from 0.2 to 0.4, has no considerable impact on the drain and gate low-frequency noise current characteristics. The most noticeable variation on the device characteristics upon long-term RF stressing has been on the pinch-off voltage. Although no material degradation by increasing the Al mole-fraction has been evidenced through the low-frequency noise data, it is observed that the variation of pinch-off voltage upon RF stressing becomes more important as the Al mole-fraction increases.     

Low-conductance drain (LCD) design of InAlAs/InGaAs/InP HEMT's

The concepts of the low-conductance drain (LCD) design approach for lattice-matched InAlAs/InGaAs/InP HEMTs are demonstrated for improved device performance. The tradeoff for LCD HEMT characteristics is a tapered current gain cutoff frequency f_t under high drain-to-source bias. This behavior is, in principle, due to the fact that the LCD approach increases the effective gate length of the HEMTs in exchange for reduced peak channel electric field. Two-dimensional PISCES simulation was used to optimize the improvements while simultaneously minimizing this undesirable effect for an LCD HEMT structure     

栅长90nm的晶格匹配InAlAs／InGaAs／InP HEMT

文章报道了90nm栅长的晶格匹配InP基HEMT器件。栅图形是通过80kV的电子束直写的,并采用了优化的三层胶工艺。器件做在匹配的InAlAs／InGaAs／InP HEMT材料上。当Vds=1．0V时,两指75μm栅宽器件的本征峰值跨导达到720ms／mm,最大电流密度为500mA／mm,器件的阂值电压为．0．8V,截止频率达到127GHz,最大振荡频率达到152GHz。     

On the non-ideal characteristics of Schottky-Barrier-gate diodes inIn0.52Al0.48As/In0.53Ga0.47As heterostructure FET's on InP substrates

We report results of determination of the zero-field barrier heights of Schottky-barrier-gate-diodes in InAlAs/InGaAs heterostructure modulation doped FET's by exploiting their temperature dependent I-V characteristics. The field-emission model has been found to account for the gate current flow mechanism particularly at temperatures below 200 K. Using this model the influence of the InAlAs/InGaAs heterostructure potential barrier on the gate current has been delineated and a possible cause behind the current's wide-range of variability, from 10^-1 to 10² A/cm² within 100 mV forward bias, has been suggested     

InGaAs/InAlAs HEMT with a strained InGaP Schottky contact layer

The authors have fabricated an InGaAs/InAlAs HEMT structure with a strained InGaP Schottky contact layer to achieve selective wet gate recess etching and to improve reliability for thermal stress. Strained In_0.75Ga_0.25P grown on InAlAs has been revealed to have sufficient Schottky barrier height for use as a gate contact. Threshold voltage standard deviation has been reduced to one fifth that of a conventional InGaAs/InAlAs HEMT, as a result of successful selective recess etching. After thermal treatment at 300°C for 5 min, the drain current and transconductance did not change, while those of the conventional HEMT decreased by more than 10%     

Origin of low-frequency noise in pentacene field-effect transistors

Measurements of power spectral density (PSD) of low-frequency noise (LFN) in pentacene field-effect transistors reveal the preponderance of a 1/f-type PSD behavior with the amplitude varying as the squared transistor gain and increasing as the inverse of the gate surface area. Such features impose an interpretation of LFN by carrier number fluctuations model involving capture/release of charges on traps uniformly distributed over the gate surface. The surface slow trap density extracted by the noise analysis is close to the surface states density deduced independently from static I(V) data, which confirms the validity of the proposed LFN interpretation. Further, we found that the trap densities in bottom-contact (BC) devices were higher than in their top-contact (TC) counterparts, in agreement with observations of a poorer crystal structure of BC devices, in the contact regions in particular. At the highest bias the noise originating from the contact resistance is also shown to be a dominant component in the PSD, and it is well explained by the noise originating from a gate-voltage dependent contact resistance. A gate area scaling was also performed, and the good scaling and the dispersion at the highest bias confirm the validity of the applied carrier number fluctuations model and the predominant contact noise at high current intensities.     

Drastic reduction of gate leakage in InAlAs/InGaAs HEMT's using apseudomorphic InAlAs hole barrier layer

Impact ionization in the channel of InAlAs/InGaAs HEMT's was shown to be a reason for excess gate leakage current. Hot electrons in the high field region of the channel under the gate generate electron-hole pairs. The generated holes can reach the gate (gate leakage) as well as the source, the electrons flow to the drain (kink effect). The number of holes reaching the gate strongly depends on the valence band discontinuity. In order to increase this valence band discontinuity a thin pseudomorphic InAlAs layer with high Al-content was inserted in the spacer of an InAlAs/InGaAs HEMT. The efficiency of this hole barrier was measured by photocurrent and DC measurements, while its influence on transport characteristics was measured by Hall and RF measurements. A reduction of gate leakage by a factor of 200 is demonstrated     

Examination of the kink effect in InAlAs/InGaAs/InP HEMTs using sinusoidal and transient excitation

The kink effect in InAlAs/InGaAs/InP HEMTs is examined in the frequency domain using sinusoidal excitation and in the time domain using voltage pulses applied to the drain of the devices. With the sinusoidal excitation below the kink voltage, two prominent output-resistance frequency-response transitions attributed to traps in the InAlAs or its interfaces were found. These transitions were examined as functions of temperature and yielded trap activation energies near 0.18 and 0.56 eV. Above the kink voltage, a single, broad transition with an activation energy near 0.24 eV was found. Using incremental voltage pulses applied to the drain, a convenient kink signature was obtained. With large voltage pulses which span the kink region, a complex nonexponential transient response was observed due to concurrent capture and emission mechanisms. HEMTs with single- and double-recessed gate structures were found to have similar output resistance dispersion characteristics.<>     

Monolithically integrated long wavelength optical receiver OEICs using InAlAs/InGaAs heterojunction MESFETs (HFETs)

Monolithic optical receiver OEICs have been successfully fabricated on 2" diameter InP substrates by integrating an InGaAs pin photodetector with a simple InAlAs/InGaAs heterojunction MESFET (HFET) structure. Transimpedance receivers based on 1.5 mu m gate length FETs exhibited 3.5 GHz bandwidth and 19.9 pA/ square root (Hz) averaged noise current. Circuit functional yield as high as 67% has been achieved.<>