60-GHz pseudomorphicAl0.25Ga0.75As/In0.28Ga0.72As low-noise HEMTs

V-band low-noise planar-doped pseudomorphic (PM) InGaAs high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) were fabricated with an indium mole fraction of 28% in the InGaAs channel. A device with 0.15-μm T-gate achieved a minimum noise figure of 1.5 dB with an associated gain of 6.1 dB at 61.5 GHz     

Very low-noise Al/sub 0.3/Ga/sub 0.7/As/Ga/sub 0.65/In/sub 0.35/As/GaAs single quantum-well pseudomorphic HEMTs

AlGaAs/GaInAs/GaAs pseudomorphic HEMTs with an InAs mole fraction as high as 35% in the channel has been successfully fabricated. The device exhibits a maximum extrinsic transconductance of 700 mS/mm. At 18 GHz, a minimum noise figure of 0.55 dB with 15.0 dB associated gain was measured. At 60 GHz, a minimum noise figure as low as 1.6 dB with 7.6 dB associated gain was also obtained. This is the best noise performance yet reported for GaAs-based HEMTs.<>     

Ultralow-noise W-band pseudomorphic InGaAs HEMT's

Low-noise planar doped pseudomorphic (PM) InGaAs high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) with a gate length of 0.1 μm for W-band operation are discussed. These devices feature a multiple-finger layout with air bridges interconnecting the sources to reduce gate resistance. The device exhibits a minimum noise figure of 2.5 dB with an associated gain of 4.7 dB at 92.5 GHz. This result demonstrates the feasibility of using PM InGaAs HEMTs for W-band low-noise receivers without the need for using lattice-matched InP HEMTs     

High-power V-band pseudomorphic InGaAs HEMT

The author's present the DC and RF power performance of planar-doped channel InGaAs high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs). The planar-doped channel (PDC) pseudomorphic GaAs HEMT with 400 μm of gate width exhibited an output power of 184 mW, corresponding to 460 mW/mm, with 4.6-dB saturation gain and 25% power-added efficiency at 55 GHz. Although higher power density is possible, the authors have designed the device to operate at less than 500 mW/mm for thermal and reliability reasons. Devices with unit gate finger widths ranging from 30 to 50 μm were fabricated and characterized, with no performance degradation observed from using the longer gate fingers     

0.1-µm Gate-length pseudomorphic HEMT's

AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistors (HEMT's) with a gate length of 0.1 µm have been successfully fabricated. The HEMT's exhibit a maximum transconductance of 540 mS/mm with excellent pinch-off characteristics. A maximum stable gain (MSG) as high as 18.2 dB was measured at 18 GHz. At 60 GHz the device has demonstrated a minimum noise figure of 2.4 dB with an associated gain of ∼6 dB. These are the best gain and noise results reported to date for HEMT's.     

Microwave noise performance of AlGaN-GaN HEMTs with small DC power dissipation

We report low microwave noise performance of discrete AlGaN-GaN HEMTs at DC power dissipation comparable to that of GaAs-based low-noise FETs. At 1-V source-drain (SD) bias and DC power dissipation of 97 mW/mm, minimum noise figures (NF/sub min/) of 0.75 dB at 10 GHz and 1.5 dB at 20 GHz were achieved, respectively. A device breakdown voltage of 40 V was observed. Both the low microwave noise performance at small DC power level and high breakdown voltage was obtained with a shorter SD spacing of 1.5 /spl mu/m in 0.15-/spl mu/m gate length GaN HEMTs. By comparison, NF/sub min/ with 2 /spl mu/m SD spacing was 0.2 dB greater at 10 GHz.     

W-band low-noise InAlAs/InGaAs lattice-matched HEMTs

Very low-noise 0.15-μm gate-length W-band In_0.52 Al_0.48As/In_0.53Ga_0.47As/In _0.52Al_0.48As/InP lattice-matched HEMTs are discussed. A maximum extrinsic transconductance of 1300 mS/mm has been measured for the device. At 18 GHz, a noise figure of 0.3 dB with an associated gain of 17.2 dB was measured. The device also exhibited a minimum noise figure of 1.4 dB with 6.6-dB associated gain at 93 GHz. A maximum available gain of 12.6 dB at 95 GHz, corresponding to a maximum frequency of oscillation, f_max, of 405 GHz (-6-dB/octave extrapolation) in the device was measured. These are the best device results yet reported. These results clearly demonstrate the potential of the InP-based HEMTs for low-noise applications, at least up to 100 GHz     

High microwave and ultra-low noise performance of fullyion-implanted GaAs MESFETs with Au/WSiN T-shaped gate

Fully ion-implanted n⁺ self-aligned GaAs MESFETs with high microwave and ultra-low-noise performance have been fabricated. T-shaped gate structures composed of Au/WSiN are employed to reduce gate resistance effectively. A very thin and high-quality channel with high carrier concentration can be formed by adopting the optimum annealing temperature for the channel, and the channel surface suffers almost no damage by using ECR plasma RIE for gate formation. GaAs MESFETs with a gate length as short as 0.35 μm demonstrated a maximum oscillation frequency of 76 GHz. At an operating frequency of 18 GHz, a minimum noise figure of 0.81 dB with an associated gain of 7.7 dB is obtained. A K_f factor of 1.4 estimated by Fukui's noise figure equation, which is comparable to those of AlGaAs/GaAs HEMTs with the same geometry, reveals that the quality of the channel is very high     

High performance W-band InAlAs-InGaAs-InP HEMTs

0.15 mu m T-gate lattice-matched In/sub 0.52/Al/sub 0.48/As-In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As-InP HEMTs with a device minimum noise figure of 1.7 dB with 7.7 dB associated gain at 93 GHz have been fabricated. A single-ended active mixer was fabricated using these devices, and a conversion gain of 2.4 dB was measured with 7.3 dB single-sideband noise figure at 94 GHz. This is the first reported active mixer conversion gain at W-band.<>     

Noise performance at cryogenic temperatures at AlGaAs/InGaAs HEMT'swith 0.15-μm T-shaped WSix gates

T-shaped 0.15-μm WSi_x gate HEMTs have been fabricated on AlGaAs/InGaAs MBE wafers. Their S-parameters, output noise spectral density P_no, and noise temperatures T _e at cryogenic temperatures, were measured. The current gain cutoff frequency f_T increases from 61 GHz at 295 K to 87 GHz at 90 K. P_no and T_e measurements indicate that the hot-electron effect is noticeable at low temperatures at high drain current. At 30 GHz, the noise temperature is 19±3 K with an associated gain of 10.4 dB at the physical temperature of 20 K. The results demonstrate the great potential of AlGaAs/InGaAs HEMTs for low-temperature applications     

Super low-noise HEMTs with a T-shaped WSix gate

A T-shaped quarter-micron gate structure composed of WSi_x /Ti/Pt/Au has been developed for low-noise AlGaAs/GaAs HEMTs. The gate resistance R_g was reduced to 0.3 Ω for devices with 200 μm-wide gates despite using WSi_x, and the source resistance R_s reached 0.28 Ω mm by minimising the source-gate distance using a self-alignment technique. This HEMT exhibited the lowest reported noise figure of 0.54 dB with an associated gain of 12.1 dB at 12 GHz     

Half-micrometer gate-length ion-implanted GaAs MESFET with 0.8-dBnoise figure at 16 GHz

Ion-implanted GaAs MESFETs with half-micrometer gate length have been fabricated on 3-in-diameter GaAs substrates. At 16 GHz, a minimum noise figure of 0.8 dB with an associated gain of 6.3 dB has been measured. This noise figure is believed to be the lowest ever reported for 0.5- and 0.25-μm ion-implanted MESFETs, and is comparable to that for 0.25-μm HEMTs at this frequency. By using the Fukui equation and the fitted equivalent circuit model, a K_f factor of 1.4 has been obtained. These results clearly demonstrate the potential of ion-implanted MESFET technology for K-band low-noise integrated circuit applications     

Very high power-added efficiency and low-noise 0.15-μmgate-length pseudomorphic HEMTs

0.15-μm-gate-length double-heterojunction pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) for which excellent millimeter-wave power and noise performance were achieved simultaneously are reported. The 50-μm-wide HEMTs yielded record maximum power-added efficiencies of 51, 41, and 23% at 35, 60, and 94 GHz, respectively. Maximum output powers of 139 mW at 60 GHz and 57 mW at 94 GHz were also measured for 150-μm-gate-width devices. Finally, minimum noise figures as low as 0.55 and 1.8 dB were measured at 18 and 60 GHz respectively. This is the best power and noise performance yet reported for passivated transistors at millimeter-wave frequencies     

94-GHz 0.1-μm T-gate low-noise pseudomorphic InGaAs HEMTs

Fabrication of state-of-the-art W-band 0.1-μm T-gate pseudomorphic (PM) InGaAs high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) is reported. This device achieved a noise figure of 2.1 dB with an associated gain of 6.3 dB at 93.5 GHz. The device has a maximum gain of 9.6 dB at 94 GHz, which extrapolates to an F_max of 290 GHz. This noise figure is claimed to be the lowest ever reported for HEMTs fabricated on GaAs substrates at this frequency range     

Ultra-high gain, low noise monolithic InP HEMT distributed amplifier from 5 to 40 GHz

A monolithic 5-45 GHz distributed amplifier has been developed utilising 0.25 mu m InAlAs/InGaAs lattice matched HEMTs with a mushroom gate profile as active devices. A measured gain of 12.5+or-0.5 dB from 5 to 40 GHz and a measured noise figure of 2.5-4 dB in the Ka-band were achieved.<>     

Extremely low-noise performance of GaAs MESFETs with wide-headT-shaped gate

Fully ion-implanted low-noise GaAs MESFETs with a 0.11-μm Au/WSiN T-shaped gate have been successfully developed for applications in monolithic microwave and millimeter-wave integrated circuits (MMICs). In order to reduce the gate resistance, a wide Au gate head made of a first-level interconnect is employed. As the wide gate head results in parasitic capacitance, the relation between the gate head length (L_h) and the device performance is examined. The gate resistance is also precisely calculated using the cold FET technique and Mahon and Anhold's method. A current gain cutoff frequency (f_T) and a maximum stable gain (MSG) decrease monotonously as L_h increases on account of parasitic capacitance. However, the device with L_h of 1.0 μm, which has lower gate resistance than 1.0 Ω, exhibits a noise figure of 0.78 dB with an associated gain of 8.7 dB at an operating frequency of 26 GHz. The measured noise figure is comparable to that of GaAs-based HEMT's     

Super-low-noise performance of direct-ion-implanted 0.25-μm-gateGaAs MESFET's

The authors report on advanced ion implantation GaAs MESFET technology using a 0.25-μm `T' gate for super-low-noise microwave and millimeter-wave IC applications. The 0.25×200-μm-gate GaAs MESFETs achieved 0.56-dB noise figure with 13.1-dB associated gain at 50% I_DSS and 0.6 dB noise figure with 16.5-dB associated gain at 100% I_DSS at a measured frequency of 10 GHz. The measured noise figure is comparable to the best noise performance of AlGaAs/GaAs HEMTs and AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs pseudomorphic HEMTs     

Low-noise HEMT fabricated by MOCVD

Low-noise HEMTs with GaAlAs/GaAs heterostructures have been successfully fabricated using metal organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD). Hall mobilities of the two-dimensional electron gas at the interface are 8000 and 148 000 cm2/Vs at 300 and 77 K. These are comparable to the best results yet reported using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The HEMTs fabricated by MOCVD with a 0.8 ?m-long gate have exhibited a noise figure of 1.47 dB with 9 dB associated gain at 12 GHz and transconductance of 190 mS/mm.     

Submicron T-shaped gate HEMT fabrication using deep-UV lithography

A new combination of low/high/low sensitivity tri-layer (PMMA/PMIPK/PMMA) resist system was used for deep UV lithography to-fabricate submicron T-shaped gate. Gate length as narrow as 0.2 μm is achieved. GaAs HEMTs with 0.3 μm T-shaped Ti/Pt/Au gate are fabricated using this technology. The HEMT demonstrated a 0.6 dB noise figure and 13 dB associated gain at 10 GHz. This deep UV lithography process provides a high throughput and low cost alternative to E-beam lithography for submicron T-gate fabrication     

Photo/EB hybrid exposure process for T-shaped gate superlow-noise HEMTs

A process for fabricating T-shaped gates using photo/EB hybrid exposure has been developed. This process is suitable for mass production of high performance HEMTs. A 0.2 mu m T-shaped gate HEMT exhibits very low noise figures of 0.40 and 1.1 dB at 12 and 40 GHz, respectively, and high reliability.<>