High Performance (fT~500GHZ) In0.52Al0.48As/In0.53Ga0.47As/InP Quantum Wire MODFETs Employing Asymmetric Coupled-Well Channels

A coupled-well InAlAs/InGaAs quantum wire MODFET structure is proposed, for which simulations predict improved frequency performance (>500 GHz), over a wider range of V_g, as compared to well/wire devices with a standard MODFET heterointerface. A comparison of several transverse potential well profiles, obtained by varying the placement of a thin barrier within a 100 Å finite well, is presented. In all cases, the quantum wires consist of a 0.1 m long channel and a 150 Å finite-square-well lateral profile. It has been found that the peak of the electron distribution for the first confined state, as measured from the heterointerface, changes dramatically depending on the location of the thin barrier. For quantum wire structures, realized in the lattice matched system of In_0.52Al_0.48As/In_0.53Ga_0.47As/InP, a change in the barrier location of 25 Å is accompanied by a shift in the carrier peak of more than 40 Å (~20 Å closer to or farther from the spacer-well interface than in the standard MODFET profile). Implications of this are reflected in the current-voltage characteristics (I_d-V_d) and frequency responses (f_T-V_g) of the proposed structures.