Improvement of breakdown characteristics of an A1GaN/GaN HEMT with a U-type gate foot for millimeter-wave power application

In this study,the physics-based device simulation tool Silvaco ATLAS is used to characterize the electrical properties of an AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor(HEMT) with a U-type gate foot.The U-gate AlGaN/GaN HEMT mainly features a gradually changed sidewall angle,which effectively mitigates the electric field in the channel, thus obtaining enhanced off-state breakdown characteristics.At the same time,only a small additional gate capacitance and decreased gate resistance ensure excellent RF characteristics for the U-gate device.U-gate AlGaN/GaN HEMTs are feasible through adjusting the etching conditions of an inductively coupled plasma system,without introducing any extra process steps.The simulation results are confirmed by experimental measurements.These features indicate that U-gate AlGaN/GaN HEMTs might be promising candidates for use in miltimeter-wave power applications.