High-frequency enhancement-mode millimeterwave AlGaN/GaN HEMT with an fT/fmax over 100 GHz/200 GHz

Ultra-thin barrier (UTB) 4-nm-AlGaN/GaN normally-off high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) having a high current gain cut-off frequency (f_T) are demonstrated by the stress-engineered compressive SiN trench technology. The compressive in-situ SiN guarantees the UTB-AlGaN/GaN heterostructure can operate a high electron density of 1.27×10¹³cm^-2, a high uniform sheet resistance of 312.8 Ω /□, but a negative threshold for the short-gate devices fabricated on it. With the lateral stress-engineering by full removing in-situ SiN in the 600-nm SiN trench, the short-gated (70 nm) devices obtain a threshold of 0.2 V, achieving the devices operating at enhancement-mode (E-mode). Meanwhile, the novel device also can operate a large current of 610 mA/mm and a high transconductance of 394 mS/mm for the E-mode devices. Most of all, a high f_T/f_max of 128 GHz/255 GHz is obtained, which is the highest value among the reported E-mode AlGaN/GaN HEMTs. Besides, being together with the 211 GHz/346 GHz of f_T/f_max for the D-mode HEMTs fabricated on the same materials, this design of E/D-mode with the realization of f_max over 200 GHz in this work is the first one that can be used in Q-band mixed-signal application with further optimization. And the minimized processing difference between the E- and D-mode designs the addition of the SiN trench, will promise an enormous competitive advantage in the fabricating costs.     

Fabrication of 160-nm T-gate metamorphic AlInAs/GaInAs HEMTs on GaAs substrates by metal organic chemical vapour deposition

The fabrication and performance of 160-nm gate-length metamorphic AlInAs/GaInAs high electron mobility tran-sistors (mHEMTs) grown on GaAs substrate by metal organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) are reported. By using a novel combined optical and e-beam photolithography technology, submicron mHEMTs devices have been achieved. The devices exhibit good DC and RF performance. The maximum current density was 817 mA/mm and the maximum transconductance was 828 mS/mm. The non-alloyed Ohmic contact resistance Rc was as low as 0.02 Ω- mm. The unity current gain cut-off frequency (fT) and the maximum oscillation frequency (fmax) were 146 GHz and 189 GHz, respectively. This device has the highest fT yet reported for a 160-nm gate-length HEMTs grown by MOCVD. The output conductance is 28.9 mS/mm, which results in a large voltage gain of 28.6. Also, an input capacitance to gate-drain feedback capacitance ratio, Cgs/Cgd, of 4.3 is obtained in the device.     

AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors with transparent gates by Al-doped ZnO

AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors （HEMTs） with Al-doped ZnO （AZO） transparent gate electrodes are fabricated, and Ni/Au/Ni-gated HEMTs are produced in comparison. The AZO-gated HEMTs show good DC characteristics and Schottky rectifying characteristics, and the gate electrodes achieve excellent transparencies. Compared with Ni/Au/Ni-gated HEMTs, AZO-gated HEMTs show a low saturation current, high threshold voltage, high Schottky barrier height, and low gate reverse leakage current. Due to the higher gate resistivity, AZO-gated HEMTs exhibit a current-gain cutoff frequency （fT） of 10 GHz and a power gain cutoff frequency （fmax） of 5 GHz, and lower maximum oscillation frequency than Ni/Au/Ni-gated HEMTs. Moreover, the C-V characteristics are measured and the gate interface characteristics of the AZO-gated devices are investigated by a C-V dual sweep.     

Device research on GaAs-based InAlAs/InGaAs metamorphic high electron mobility transistors grown by metal organic chemical vapour deposition

This paper applies a novel quad-layer resist and e-beam lithography technique to fabricate a GaAs-based InAlAs/InGaAs metamorphic high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) grown by metal organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD). The gate length of the metamorphic HEMT was 150~nm, the maximum current density was 330~mA/mm, the maximum transconductance was 470~mS/mm, the threshold voltage was -0.6~V, and the maximum current gain cut-off frequency and maximum oscillation frequency were 102~GHz and 450~GHz, respectively. This is the first report on tri-termination devices whose frequency value is above 400~GHz in China. The excellent frequency performances promise the possibility of metamorphic HEMTs grown by MOCVD for millimetre-wave applications, and more outstanding device performances would be obtained after optimizing the material structure, the elaborate T-gate and other device processes further.     

Extrinsic equivalent circuit modeling of InP HEMTs based on full-wave electromagnetic simulation

With the widespread utilization of indium-phosphide-based high-electron-mobility transistors (InP HEMTs) in the millimeter-wave (mmW) band, the distributed and high-frequency parasitic coupling behavior of the device is particularly prominent. We present an InP HEMT extrinsic parasitic equivalent circuit, in which the conductance between the device electrodes and a new gate-drain mutual inductance term L_mgd are taken into account for the high-frequency magnetic field coupling between device electrodes. Based on the suggested parasitic equivalent circuit, through HFSS and advanced design system (ADS) co-simulation, the equivalent circuit parameters are directly extracted in the multi-step system. The HFSS simulation prediction, measurement data, and modeled frequency response are compared with each other to verify the feasibility of the extraction method and the accuracy of the equivalent circuit. The proposed model demonstrates the distributed and radio-frequency behavior of the device and solves the problem that the equivalent circuit parameters of the conventional InP HEMTs device are limited by the device model and inaccurate at high frequencies when being extracted.     

High performance oscillator with 2-mW output power at 300 GHz

Material structures and device structures of a 100-GHz InP based transferred-electron device are designed in this paper. In order to successfully fabricate the Gunn devices operating at 100 GHz, the InP substrate was entirely removed by mechanical thinning and wet etching. The Gunn device was connected to a tripler link and a high RF(radio frequency)output with power of 2 mW working at 300 GHz was obtained, which is high enough for applications in current military electronic systems.     

High-Breakdown-Voltage Submicron InGaAs/InP Double Heterojunction Bipolar Transistor with ft=170GHz and fmax=253GHz

The layer structure of InGaAs/InP double heterojunction bipolar transistor (DHBT) is designed to enhance the frequency performance and breakdown voltage. The composition-graded base structure is used to decrease the base transit time. The InGaAs setback layer and two highly doped InGaAsP layers are used to eliminate the conduction band spike of the collector. The submicron-emitter InGaAs/InP DHBT is fabricated successfully. The base contact resistance is greatly decreased by optimization of contact metals. The breakdown voltage is more than 6V. The current gain cutoff frequency is as high as 170GHz and the maximum oscillation frequency reached 253GHz. The DHBT with such high performances can be used to make W-band power amplifier.     

A novel Si-rich SiN bilayer passivation with thin-barrier AlGaN/GaN HEMTs for high performance millimeter-wave applications

We demonstrate a novel Si-rich SiN bilayer passivation technology for AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) with thin-barrier to minimize surface leakage current to enhance the breakdown voltage. The bilayer SiN with 20-nm Si-rich SiN and 100-nm Si$_{3}$N$_{4}$ was deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) after removing 20-nm SiO$_{2}$ pre-deposition layer. Compared to traditional Si$_{3}$N$_{4}$ passivation for thin-barrier AlGaN/GaN HEMTs, Si-rich SiN bilayer passivation can suppress the current collapse ratio from 18.54% to 8.40%. However, Si-rich bilayer passivation leads to a severer surface leakage current, so that it has a low breakdown voltage. The 20-nm SiO$_{2}$ pre-deposition layer can protect the surface of HEMTs in fabrication process and decrease Ga-O bonds, resulting in a lower surface leakage current. In contrast to passivating Si-rich SiN directly, devices with the novel Si-rich SiN bilayer passivation increase the breakdown voltage from 29 V to 85 V. Radio frequency (RF) small-signal characteristics show that HEMTs with the novel bilayer SiN passivation leads to $f_{\rm T}/f_{\rm max}$ of 68 GHz/102 GHz. At 30 GHz and $V_{\rm DS} = 20$ V, devices achieve a maximum $P_{\rm out}$ of 5.2 W/mm and a peak power-added efficiency (PAE) of 42.2%. These results indicate that HEMTs with the novel bilayer SiN passivation can have potential applications in the millimeter-wave range.     

单载流子传输的双异质结光敏晶体管探测器的研究

基于器件仿真器Atlas, 建立了InP/InGaAsP单向载流子传输的双异质结光敏晶体管(UTC-DHPT)的二维模型, 分析讨论了器件性能与外延结构参数的关系. 设计出同时具有高响应度(≥17.93 A/W)和高特征频率(≥121.68 GHz)的UTC-DHPT, 缓解了传统的异质结光敏晶体管光电探测器中探测效率和工作速度的矛盾. 关键词： 单向载流子 光敏晶体管 电流放大倍数 响应度     

High-Speed InGaAs/InP Double Heterostructure Bipolar Transistor with High Breakdown Voltage

e design and fabricate an InGaAs/InP double heterostructure bipolar transistor (DHBT). The spike of the conduction band discontinuity between InGaAs base and InP collector is successfully eliminated by insertion of an InGaAs layer and two InGaAsP layers. The current gain cutoff frequency and maximum oscillation frequency are as high as 155 and 144GHz. The breakdown voltage in common-emitter configuration is more than 7V. The high cutoff frequency and high breakdown voltage make high-speed andhigh-power circuits possible     

高线性度Al_xGa_(1-x)N/Al_yGa_(1-y)N/GaN高电子迁移率晶体管优化设计

对新型复合沟道AlxGa1-xN/AlyGa1-yN/GaN高电子迁移率晶体管(HEMT)进行了优化设计.从半导体能带理论与量子阱理论出发,自洽求解了器件层结构参数对器件导带能级以及二维电子气(2DEG)中载流子浓度和横向电场的影响.用TCAD软件仿真得到了器件的层结构参数对器件性能的影响.结合理论分析和仿真结果确定了器件的最佳外延层结构Al0.31Ga0.69N/Al0.04Ga0.96N/GaNHEMT.对栅长1μm,栅宽100μm的器件仿真表明,器件的最大跨导为300mS/mm,且在栅极电压-2—1V的宽范围内跨导变化很小,表明器件具有较好的线性度;器件的最大电流密度为1300mA/mm,特征频率为11.5GHz,最大振荡频率为32.5GHz.     

Performance of La₂O₃/InAlN/GaN metal-oxide-semiconductor high electron mobility transistors

We report on the performance of La2O3/InAlN/GaN metal-oxide-semiconductor high electron mobility transistors(MOSHEMTs) and InAlN/GaN high electron mobility transistors(HEMTs).The MOSHEMT presents a maximum drain current of 961 mA/mm at Vgs = 4 V and a maximum transconductance of 130 mS/mm compared with 710 mA/mm at Vgs = 1 V and 131 mS/mm for the HEMT device,while the gate leakage current in the reverse direction could be reduced by four orders of magnitude.Compared with the HEMT device of a similar geometry,MOSHEMT presents a large gate voltage swing and negligible current collapse.     

阶梯AlGaN外延新型Al0.25Ga0.75N/GaNHEMTs器件实验研究

本文报道了作者提出的阶梯AlGaN外延层新型AlGaN/GaN HEMTs结构的实验结果. 实验利用感应耦合等离子体刻蚀(ICP)刻蚀栅边缘的AlGaN外延层, 形成阶梯的AlGaN 外延层结构, 获得浓度分区的沟道2DEG, 使得阶梯AlGaN外延层边缘出现新的电场峰, 有效降低栅边缘的高峰电场, 从而优化了AlGaN/GaN HEMTs器件的表面电场分布. 实验获得了阈值电压-1.5 V的新型AlGaN/GaN HEMTs器件. 经过测试, 同样面积的器件击穿电压从传统结构的67 V提高到新结构的106 V, 提高了58%左右; 脉冲测试下电流崩塌量也比传统结构减少了30%左右, 电流崩塌效应得到了一定的缓解.     

High power-added-efficiency AlGaN/GaN HEMTs fabricated by atomic level controlled etching

An atomic-level controlled etching(ACE)technology is invstigated for the fabrication of recessed gate AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors(HEMTs)with high power added efficiency.We compare the recessed gate HEMTs with conventional etching(CE)based chlorine,Cl₂-only ACE and BCl³/Cl₂ACE,respectively.The mixed radicals of BCl₃/Cl₂were used as the active reactants in the step of chemical modification.For ensuring precise and controllable etching depth and low etching damage,the kinetic energy of argon ions was accurately controlled.These argon ions were used precisely to remove the chemical modified surface atomic layer.Compared to the HEMTs with CE,the characteristics of devices fabricated by ACE are significantly improved,which benefits from significant reduction of etching damage.For BCl₃/Cl₂ACE recessed HEMTs,the load pull test at 17 GHz shows a high power added efficiency(PAE)of 59.8%with an output power density of 1.6 W/mm at Vd=10 V,and a peak PAE of 44.8%with an output power density of 3.2 W/mm at Vd=20 V in a continuous-wave mode.     

Improved device performance of recessed-gate AlGaN/GaN HEMTs by using in-situ N2O radical treatment

The N₂O radicals in-situ treatment on gate region has been employed to improve device performance of recessed-gate AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs). The samples after gate recess etching were treated by N₂O radicals without physical bombardment. After in-situ treatment (IST) processing, the gate leakage currents decreased by more than one order of magnitude compared to the sample without IST. The fabricated HEMTs with the IST process show a low reverse gate current of 10^-9 A/mm, high on/off current ratio of 10⁸, and high f_T×L_g of 13.44 GHz· μm. A transmission electron microscope (TEM) imaging illustrates an oxide layer with a thickness of 1.8 nm exists at the AlGaN surface. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurement shows that the content of the Al-O and Ga-O bonds elevated after IST, indicating that the Al-N and Ga-N bonds on the AlGaN surface were broken and meanwhile the Al-O and Ga-O bonds formed. The oxide formed by a chemical reaction between radicals and the surface of the AlGaN barrier layer is responsible for improved device characteristics.     

Physical modeling of direct current and radio frequency characteristics for In P-based InAlAs/InGaAs HEMTs

Direct current(DC) and radio frequency(RF) performances of InP-based high electron mobility transistors(HEMTs)are investigated by Sentaurus TCAD. The physical models including hydrodynamic transport model, Shockley–Read–Hall recombination, Auger recombination, radiative recombination, density gradient model and high field-dependent mobility are used to characterize the devices. The simulated results and measured results about DC and RF performances are compared, showing that they are well matched. However, the slight differences in channel current and pinch-off voltage may be accounted for by the surface defects resulting from oxidized InAlAs material in the gate-recess region. Moreover,the simulated frequency characteristics can be extrapolated beyond the test equipment limitation of 40 GHz, which gives a more accurate maximum oscillation frequency( f_(max)) of 385 GHz.     

Performance of La2O3/InAlN/GaN metal—oxide—semiconductor high electron mobility transistors

We report on the performance of La2O3/InAlN/GaN metal-oxide-semiconductor high electron mobility transistors(MOSHEMTs) and InAlN/GaN high electron mobility transistors(HEMTs).The MOSHEMT presents a maximum drain current of 961 mA/mm at Vgs = 4 V and a maximum transconductance of 130 mS/mm compared with 710 mA/mm at Vgs = 1 V and 131 mS/mm for the HEMT device,while the gate leakage current in the reverse direction could be reduced by four orders of magnitude.Compared with the HEMT device of a similar geometry,MOSHEMT presents a large gate voltage swing and negligible current collapse.     

Influences of increasing gate stem height on DC and RF performances of InAlAs/InGaAs InP-based HEMTs

The T-gate stem height of In Al As/In Ga As In P-based high electron mobility transistor(HEMT) is increased from165 nm to 250 nm. The influences of increasing the gate stem height on the direct current(DC) and radio frequency(RF)performances of device are investigated. A 120-nm-long gate, 250-nm-high gate stem device exhibits a higher threshold voltage(Vth) of 60 m V than a 120-nm-long gate devices with a short gate stem, caused by more Pt distributions on the gate foot edges of the high Ti/Pt/Au gate. The Pt distribution in Schottky contact metal is found to increase with the gate stem height or the gate length increasing, and thus enhancing the Schottky barrier height and expanding the gate length,which can be due to the increased internal tensile stress of Pt. The more Pt distributions for the high gate stem device also lead to more obvious Pt sinking, which reduces the distance between the gate and the In Ga As channel so that the transconductance(gm) of the high gate stem device is 70 m S/mm larger than that of the short stem device. As for the RF performances,the gate extrinsic parasitic capacitance decreases and the intrinsic transconductance increases after the gate stem height has been increased, so the RF performances of device are obviously improved. The high gate stem device yields a maximum ft of 270 GHz and fmax of 460 GHz, while the short gate stem device has a maximum ft of 240 GHz and the fmax of 370 GHz.     

Novel attributes of AlGaN/AlN/GaN/SiC HEMTs with the multiple indented channel

In this paper, a high performance AlGaN/AlN/GaN/SiC High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT) with the multiple indented channel (MIC-HEMT) is proposed. The main focus of the proposed structure is based on reduction of the space around the gate, stop of the spread of the depletion region around the source–drain, and decrement of the thickness of the channel between the gate and drain. Therefore, the breakdown voltage increases, meanwhile the elimination of the gate depletion layer extension to source/drain decreases the gate–source and gate–drain capacitances. The optimized results reveal that the breakdown voltage and the drain saturation current increase about 178% and 46% compared with a conventional HEMT (C-HEMT), respectively. Therefore, the maximum output power density is improved by factor 4.1 in comparison with conventional one. Also, the cut-off frequency of 25.2 GHz and the maximum oscillation frequency of 92.1 GHz for the MIC-HEMT are obtained compared to 13 GHz and 43 GHz for that of the C-HEMT and the minimum figure noise decreased consequently of reducing the gate–drain and gate–source capacitances by about 42% and 40%, respectively. The proposed MIC-HEMT shows a maximum stable gain (MSG) exceeding 24.1 dB at 3.1 GHz which the greatest gain is yet reported for HEMTs, showing the potential of this device for high power RF applications.     

Ultraviolet Phototransistors on AlGaN/GaN Heterostructures

We report on the fabrication and characterization of phototransistors based on AIGaN/GaN heterostructure grown over 6H-SiC substrates. The device has two functions： as a high electron mobility transistor （HEMT） and an ultraviolet photodetector at the same time. As an HEMT, its maximum transconductance is 170mS/ram, while the minimum cutoff frequency fT and the maximum oscillation frequency fm are 19 and 35 GHz, respectively. As a photodetector, the device is visible blind, with an ultraviolet/green contrast of three orders of magnitude, and a responsivity as high as 1700 A/W at the wavelength of 362nm.