The effect of surface passivation on the microwave characteristicsof undoped AlGaN/GaN HEMTs

Surface passivation of undoped AlGaN/CaN HEMT's reduces or eliminates the surface effects responsible for limiting both the RF current and breakdown voltages of the devices. Power measurements on a 2×125×0.5 μm AlGaN/GaN sapphire based HEMT demonstrate an increase in 4 GHz saturated output power from 1.0 W/mm [36% peak power-added efficiency (PAE)] to 2.0 W/mm (46% peak PAE) with 15 V applied to the drain in each case. Breakdown measurement data show a 25% average increase in breakdown voltage for 0.5 μm gate length HEMT's on the same wafer. Finally, 4 GHz power sweep data for a 2×75×0.4 μm AlGaN/GaN HEMT on sapphire processed using the Si₃N₄ passivation layer produced 4.0 W/mm saturated output power at 41% PAE (25 V drain bias). This result represents the highest reported microwave power density for undoped sapphire substrated AlGaN/GaN HEMT's     

SiN钝化前的NF3等离子体处理对AlGaN/GaN HEMT性能的影响

研究了SiN钝化前利用感应耦合等离子体（ICP）对AlGaN/GaN HEMT表面进行NF3等离子体处理对器件性能的影响. 结果表明,运用低能量的NF3等离子体处理钝化前的AlGaN/GaN HEMT表面能有效抑制器件电流崩塌,而器件直流及微波小信号特性则未受影响. 微波功率测试表明,经过6min NF3等离子体处理的AlGaN/GaN HEMT在2GHz, 30V工作电压下达到6.15W/mm的输出功率密度,而未经过处理的器件只达到1.82W/mm的输出功率密度.     

Effects of Sc2O3 and MgO passivation layerson the output power of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs

The low temperature (100°C) deposition of Sc₂O₃ or MgO layers is found to significantly increase the output power of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs. At 4 GHz, there was a better than 3 dB increase in output power of 0.5×100 μm² HEMTs for both types of oxide passivation layers. Both Sc₂ O₃ and MgO produced larger output power increases at 4 GHz than conventional plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposited (PECVD) SiN_x passivation which typically showed ⩽2 dB increase on the same types of devices. The HEMT gain also in general remained linear over a wider input power range with the Sc₂O₃ or MgO passivation. These films appear promising for reducing the effects of surface states on the DC and RF performance of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs     

Trapping effects and microwave power performance in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs

The dc small-signal, and microwave power output characteristics of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs are presented. A maximum drain current greater than 1 A/mm and a gate-drain breakdown voltage over 80 V have been attained. For a 0.4 μm gate length, an f_T of 30 GHz and an f_max of 70 GHz have been demonstrated. Trapping effects, attributed to surface and buffer layers, and their relationship to microwave power performance are discussed. It is demonstrated that gate lag is related to surface trapping and drain current collapse is associated with the properties of the GaN buffer layer. Through a reduction of these trapping effects, a CW power density of 3.3 W/mm and a pulsed power density of 6.7 W/mm have been achieved at 3.8 GHz     

Undoped AlGaN/GaN HEMTs for microwave power amplification

Undoped AlGaN/GaN structures are used to fabricate high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs). Using the strong spontaneous and piezoelectric polarization inherent in this crystal structure a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) is induced. Three-dimensional (3-D) nonlinear thermal simulations are made to determine the temperature rise from heat dissipation in various geometries. Epitaxial growth by MBE and OMVPE are described, reaching electron mobilities of 1500 and 1700 cm ²/Ns, respectively, For electron sheet density near 1×10¹³/cm², Device fabrication is described, including surface passivation used to sharply reduce the problematic current slump (dc to rf dispersion) in these HEMTs. The frequency response, reaching an intrinsic f_t of 106 GHz for 0.15 μm gates, and drain-source breakdown voltage dependence on gate length are presented. Small periphery devices on sapphire substrates have normalized microwave output power of ~4 W/mm, while large periphery devices have ~2 W/mm, both thermally limited. Performance, without and with Si₃N₄ passivation are presented. On SiC substrates, large periphery devices have electrical limits of 4 W/mm, due in part to the limited development of the substrates     

C波段0.75mm AlGaN/GaN功率器件

研制并测试了以蓝宝石作衬底的10×75μm×0.8μm AlGaN/GaN微波器件,采用等离子增强气相化学沉积的方法生长了250nm的Si3N4形成钝化层,直流特性从0.56A/mm上升到0.66A/mm,跨导从158mS/mm增为170mS/mm,截止频率由10.7GHz增大到13.7GHz,同时在4GHz下,Vds＝25V, Vgs＝-2.5V,输出功率由0.90W增至1.79W,输出功率密度达到2.4W/mm. 钝化有效地改善了器件的输出特性,减小和消除了表面寄生栅对器件的影响.     

2.1 A/mm current density AlGaN/GaN HEMT

The electrical performance of high current density AlGaN/GaN HEMTs is reported. 2 /spl times/ 75 /spl mu/m /spl times/ 0.7 /spl mu/m devices grown on sapphire substrates showed current densities up to 2.1 A/mm under 200 ns pulse condition. RF power measurements at 8 GHz and V/sub DS/=15 V exhibited a saturated output power of 3.66 W/mm with a 47.8% peak PAE.     

Characteristics of AlGaN/GaN/AlGaN double heteroj unction HEMTs with an improved breakdown voltage

正We studied the performance of AlGaN/GaN double heterojunction high electron mobility transistors (DH-HEMTs) with an AlGaN buffer layer,which leads to a higher potential barrier at the backside of the twodimensional electron gas channel and better carrier confinement.This,remarkably,reduces the drain leakage current and improves the device breakdown voltage.The breakdown voltage of AlGaN/GaN double heterojunction HEMTs (~ 100 V) was significantly improved compared to that of conventional AlGaN/GaN HEMTs(~50 V) for the device with gate dimensions of 0.5 x 100μm and a gate-drain distance of 1μm.The DH-HEMTs also demonstrated a maximum output power of 7.78 W/mm,a maximum power-added efficiency of 62.3%and a linear gain of 23 dB at the drain supply voltage of 35 V at 4 GHz.     

High-power polarization-engineered GaN/AlGaN/GaN HEMTs without surface passivation

In this paper, a high-power GaN/AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) has been demonstrated. A thick cap layer has been used to screen surface states and reduce dispersion. A deep gate recess was used to achieve the desired transconductance. A thin SiO/sub 2/ layer was deposited on the drain side of the gate recess in order to reduce gate leakage current and improve breakdown voltage. No surface passivation layer was used. A breakdown voltage of 90 V was achieved. A record output power density of 12 W/mm with an associated power-added efficiency (PAE) of 40.5% was measured at 10 GHz. These results demonstrate the potential of the technique as a controllable and repeatable solution to decrease dispersion and produce power from GaN-based HEMTs without surface passivation.     

AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on (111) silicon substrates

AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on silicon substrates have been fabricated and their static and small-signal RF characteristics investigated. The AlGaN/GaN material structures were grown on (111) p-Si by LP-MOVPE. Devices exhibit a saturation current of 0.91 A/mm, a good pinchoff and a peak extrinsic transconductance of 122 mS/mm. A unity current gain frequency of 12.5 GHz and f_max/f_T=0.83 were obtained. The highest saturation current reported so far, static output characteristics of up to 20 V and breakdown voltage at pinchoff higher than 40 V demonstrate that the devices are capable of handling ~16 W/mm static heat dissipation     

蓝宝石衬底上槽栅型X波段增强型AlGaN/GaN HEMT

研制了一款X波段增强型AlGaN/GaN高电子迁移率晶体管(HEMT)。在3英寸(1英寸=2.54 cm)蓝宝石衬底上采用低损伤栅凹槽刻蚀技术制备了栅长为0.3μm的增强型AlGaN/GaN HEMT。所制备的增强型器件的阈值电压为0.42 V,最大跨导为401 mS/mm,导通电阻为2.7Ω·mm。器件的电流增益截止频率和最高振荡频率分别为36.1和65.2 GHz。在10 GHz下进行微波测试,增强型AlGaN/GaN HEMT的最大输出功率密度达到5.76 W/mm,最大功率附加效率为49.1%。在同一材料上制备的耗尽型器件最大输出功率密度和最大功率附加效率分别为6.16 W/mm和50.2%。增强型器件的射频特性可与在同一晶圆上制备的耗尽型器件相比拟。     

Laser-assisted processing of VIAs for AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on SiC substrates

Vertical interconnect accesses (VIAs) were fabricated between the source electrode on the front and the ground on the backside of high-power microwave AlGaN/GaN high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) on /spl sim/400-/spl mu/m-thick silicon carbide substrates. Through-wafer microholes with an aspect ratio of up to /spl sim/ 8 were drilled using pulsed UV-laser machining and subsequently metallized using electroplating. The successful implementation of the laser-assisted VIA technology into device processing was proven by dc and RF characterization. When biased at 26 V, a saturated output power of 41.6 W with an associated power-added efficiency of 55% at 2 GHz was achieved for a 20-mm AlGaN/GaN HEMT with through-wafer VIAs.     

AlGaN/AlN/GaN high-power microwave HEMT

In this letter, a novel heterojunction AlGaN/AlN/GaN high-electron mobility transistor (HEMT) is discussed. Contrary to normal HEMTs, the insertion of the very thin AlN interfacial layer (~1 nm) maintains high mobility at high sheet charge densities by increasing the effective ΔE_C and decreasing alloy scattering. Devices based on this structure exhibited good DC and RF performance. A high peak current 1 A/mm at V_GS=2 V was obtained and an output power density of 8.4 W/mm with a power added efficiency of 28% at 8 GHz was achieved     

14W X波段AlGaN/GaN HEMT功率MMIC

报道了研制的SiC衬底AIGaN/GaN HEMT微带结构微波功率MMIC,芯片工艺采用凹槽栅场板结构提高AlGaN/GaNHEMTs的微波功率特性.S参数测试结果表明AlGaN/GaN HEMTs的频率特性随器件的工作电压变化显著.研制的该2级功率MMIC在9～11GHz带内30V工作,输出功率大于10W,功率增益大于12dB,带内峰值输出功率达到14.7W,功率增益为13.7dB,功率附加效率为23%,该芯片尺寸仅为2.0mm×1.1mm.与已发表的X波段AlGaN/GaN HEMT功率MMIC研制结果相比,本项工作在单位毫米栅宽输出功率和芯片单位面积输出功率方面具有优势.     

高性能1mm AlGaN/GaN功率HEMTs研制

报道了基于蓝宝石衬底的高性能1mm AlGaN/GaN HEMTs功率器件.为了提高微波功率器件性能，采用新的欧姆接触和新型空气桥方案．测试表明，器件电流密度为0.784A/mm，跨导197mS/mm，击穿电压大于40V，截止态漏电较小，1mm栅宽器件的单位截止频率达到20GHz，最大振荡频率为28GHz，功率增益为11dB，功率密度为1.2W/mm,PAE为32%,两端口阻抗特性显示了在微波应用中的良好潜力．     

输出功率密度为2.23W/mm的X波段AlGaN/GaN功率HEMT器件

MOCVD技术在蓝宝石衬底上制备出具有高迁移率GaN沟道层的AlGaN/GaN HEMT材料.高迁移率GaN外延层的室温迁移率达741cm2/(V·s),相应背景电子浓度为1.52×1016cm-3;非有意掺杂高阻GaN缓冲层的室温电阻率超过108Ω·cm,相应的方块电阻超过1012Ω/□.50mm HEMT外延片平均方块电阻为440.9Ω/□,方块电阻均匀性优于96％.用此材料研制出了0.2μm栅长的X波段HEMT功率器件,40μm栅宽的器件跨导达到250mS/mm,特征频率fT为77GHz;0.8mm栅宽的器件电流密度达到1.07A/mm,8GHz时连续波输出功率为1.78W,相应功率密度为2.23W/mm,线性功率增益为13.3dB.     

Millimeter-wave high-power 0.25-/spl mu/m gate-length AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on SiC substrates

Reports on the CW power performance at 20 and 30 GHz of 0.25 /spl mu/m /spl times/ 100 /spl mu/m AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) grown by MOCVD on semi-insulating SiC substrates. The devices exhibited current density of 1300 mA/mm, peak dc extrinsic transconductance of 275 mS/mm, unity current gain cutoff (f/sub T/) of 65 GHz, and maximum frequency of oscillation (f/sub max/) of 110 GHz. Saturated output power at 20 GHz was 6.4 W/mm with 16% power added efficiency (PAE), and output power at 1-dB compression at 30 GHz was 4.0 W/mm with 20% PAE. This is the highest power reported for 0.25-/spl mu/m gate-length devices at 20 GHz, and the 30 GHz results represent the highest frequency power data published to date on GaN-based devices.     

AlInN/AlN/GaN HEMT Technology on SiC With 10-W/mm and 50% PAE at 10 GHz

High-frequency high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) were fabricated on AlInN/AlN/GaN heterostructures grown by low-pressure metal-organic chemical vapor deposition on a SiC substrate. The results presented in this letter confirm the high performance that is reachable by AlInN-based technology with an output power of 10.3 W/mm and a power-added efficiency of 51% at 10 GHz with a gate length of 0.25 ?m. A good extrinsic transconductance value that is greater than 450 mS/mm and exceeding AlGaN/GaN HEMT results was also measured on these transistors. To our knowledge, these results are the best power results published on AlInN/GaN HEMTs. These good results were attributed to optimized heterostructure properties associated with low-resistance ohmic contacts and an effective passivation layer minimizing drain current slump in high-frequency operations.     

Performance of the AlGaN HEMT structure with a gate extension

The microwave performance of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs at large drain bias is reported. The device structures were grown by organometallic vapor phase epitaxy on SiC substrates with a channel sheet resistance less than 280 ohms/square. The breakdown voltage of the HEMT was improved by the composite gate structure consisting of a 0.35 /spl mu/m long silicon nitride window with a 0.18 /spl mu/m long metal overhang on either side. This produced an metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) gate extension toward the drain with the insulator, silicon nitride, approximately 40-nm-thick. Transistors with a 150 /spl mu/m total gate width have demonstrated a continuous wave (CW) 10 GHz output power density and power added efficiency of 16.5 W/mm and 47%, respectively when operated at 60 V drain bias. Small-signal measurements yielded an f/sub T/ and f/sub max/ of 25.7 GHz and 48.8 GHz respectively. Maximum drain current was 1.3 A/mm at +4 V on the gate, with a knee voltage of /spl sim/5 V. This brief demonstrates that AlGaN/GaN HEMTs with an optimized gate structure can extend the device operation to higher drain biases yielding higher power levels and efficiencies than have previously been observed.     

4 W/mm蓝宝石衬底AlGaN/GaN HEMT

报道了利用南京电子器件研究所生长的蓝宝石衬底AlGaN/GaN异质结材料制作的HEMT,器件功率输出密度达4W/mm。通过材料结构及生长条件的优化,利用MOCVD技术获得了二维电子气(2DEG)面密度为0.97×1013cm-2、迁移率为1000cm2/Vs的AlGaN/GaN异质结构材料,用此材料完成了栅长1μm、栅宽200μm AlGaN/GaN HEMT器件的研制。小信号测试表明器件的fT为17GHz、最高振荡频率fmax为40GHz;负载牵引测试得到2GHz下器件的饱和输出功率密度为4.04W/mm。