Demonstration of Constant 8 W/mm Power Density at 10, 30, and 94 GHz in State-of-the-Art Millimeter-Wave N-Polar GaN MISHEMTs

This paper reports on state-of-the-art millimeter-wave power performance of N-polar GaN-based metal–insulator–semiconductor high-electron-mobility transistors at 30 and 94 GHz. The performance is enabled by our N-polar deep recess structure, whereby a GaN cap layer is added in the access regions of the transistor to simultaneously enhance the access region conductivity while mitigating dc-to-RF dispersion. The impact of lateral scaling of the drain access region length is examined using the tradeoff between breakdown voltage and small-signal gain. Load-pull measurements are presented at 94 GHz, corresponding to the target device operating frequency in W-band, where the device demonstrated a peak power-added efficiency (PAE) of 28.8% at 16 V and record-high maximum output power density of 8 W/mm at 20 V. Additional load-pull measurements at 30 and 10 GHz demonstrate the viability of this device across a wide frequency range where the peak power remained constant at 8 W/mm and with peak PAEs of 56% and 58%, respectively.

[1]  S P DenBaars,et al.  N-Polar GaN MIS-HEMTs With a 12.1-W/mm Continuous-Wave Output Power Density at 4 GHz on Sapphire Substrate , 2011, IEEE Electron Device Letters.

[2]  M. Micovic.  High Frequency GaN HEMTs for RF MMIC Applications , 2017 .

[3]  N. Okamoto,et al.  S5-H7: GaN-HEMT technology for high power millimeter-wave amplifier , 2014, 2014 Lester Eastman Conference on High Performance Devices (LEC).

[4]  C. Campbell,et al.  Design considerations for GaN based MMICs , 2009, 2009 IEEE International Conference on Microwaves, Communications, Antennas and Electronics Systems.

[5]  C. McGuire,et al.  55% PAE and High Power Ka-Band GaN HEMTs With Linearized Transconductance via $\hbox{n}+$ GaN Source Contact Ledge , 2008, IEEE Electron Device Letters.

[6]  U. Mishra,et al.  p-capped GaN-AlGaN-GaN high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) , 2002, IEEE Electron Device Letters.

[7]  James S. Speck,et al.  N-polar GaN epitaxy and high electron mobility transistors , 2013 .

[8]  U. K. Mishra,et al.  N-polar GaN/InAlN/AlGaN MIS-HEMTs with 1.89 S/mm extrinsic transconductance, 4 A/mm drain current, 204 GHz fT and 405 GHz fmax , 2013, 71st Device Research Conference.

[9]  Valeria Teppati,et al.  94-GHz Large-Signal Operation of AlInN/GaN High-Electron-Mobility Transistors on Silicon With Regrown Ohmic Contacts , 2015, IEEE Electron Device Letters.

[10]  Masaru Sato,et al.  3.6 W/mm high power density W-band InAlGaN/GaN HEMT MMIC power amplifier , 2016, 2016 IEEE Topical Conference on Power Amplifiers for Wireless and Radio Applications (PAWR).

[11]  J. A. del Alamo,et al.  A new drain-current injection technique for the measurement of off-state breakdown voltage in FETs , 1993 .

[12]  H. P. Moyer,et al.  GaN Technology for E, W and G-Band Applications , 2014, 2014 IEEE Compound Semiconductor Integrated Circuit Symposium (CSICS).

[13]  Xun Zheng,et al.  Small-signal model extraction of mm-wave N-polar GaN MISHEMT exhibiting record performance: Analysis of gain and validation by 94 GHz loadpull , 2016, 2016 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium (IMS).

[14]  S. Denbaars,et al.  Unpassivated high power deeply recessed GaN HEMTs with fluorine-plasma surface treatment , 2006, IEEE Electron Device Letters.

[15]  Umesh K. Mishra,et al.  W-band passive load pull system for on-wafer characterization of high power density N-polar GaN devices based on output match and drive power requirements vs. gate width , 2016, 2016 87th ARFTG Microwave Measurement Conference (ARFTG).

[16]  K. Makiyama,et al.  Collapse-free high power InAlGaN/GaN-HEMT with 3 W/mm at 96 GHz , 2015, 2015 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM).

[17]  A. Kurdoghlian,et al.  W-band power performance of AlGaN/GaN DHFETs with regrown n+ GaN ohmic contacts by MBE , 2011, 2011 International Electron Devices Meeting.

[18]  S. Denbaars,et al.  RF Performance of Deep-Recessed N-Polar GaN MIS-HEMTs Using a Selective Etch Technology Without Ex Situ Surface Passivation , 2011, IEEE Electron Device Letters.

[19]  S. Denbaars,et al.  Deep-recessed GaN HEMTs using selective etch technology exhibiting high microwave performance without surface passivation , 2007, 2007 IEEE/MTT-S International Microwave Symposium.

[20]  S. Keller,et al.  High-power AlGaN/GaN HEMTs for Ka-band applications , 2005, IEEE Electron Device Letters.

[21]  A Leuther,et al.  Dual-Gate GaN MMICs for MM-Wave Operation , 2011, IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters.

[22]  P. Chao,et al.  0.1-μm Atomic Layer Deposition Al2O3 Passivated InAlN/GaN High Electron-Mobility Transistors for E-Band Power Amplifiers , 2015 .

[23]  U. Mishra,et al.  Record 34.2% efficient mm-wave N-polar AlGaN/GaN MISHEMT at 87 GHz , 2016 .

[24]  Charles F. Campbell,et al.  High efficiency Ka-band Gallium Nitride power amplifier MMICs , 2013, 2013 IEEE International Conference on Microwaves, Communications, Antennas and Electronic Systems (COMCAS 2013).

[26]  U. Mishra,et al.  Model to explain the behavior of 2DEG mobility with respect to charge density in N-polar and Ga-polar AlGaN-GaN heterostructures , 2016 .

[27]  U. Mishra,et al.  W-band N-polar GaN MISHEMTs with high power and record 27.8% efficiency at 94 GHz , 2016, 2016 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM).

[28]  H. Xing,et al.  SELECTIVE DRY ETCHING OF GaN OVER AlGaN IN BCL3/SF6 MIXTURES , 2004 .

[29]  R. Coffie,et al.  High-power polarization-engineered GaN/AlGaN/GaN HEMTs without surface passivation , 2004, IEEE Electron Device Letters.

[30]  S. Keller,et al.  Influence of the dynamic access resistance in the g/sub m/ and f/sub T/ linearity of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices.

[31]  Umesh K. Mishra,et al.  N-Polar GaN MIS-HEMTs on Sapphire With High Combination of Power Gain Cutoff Frequency and Three-Terminal Breakdown Voltage , 2016, IEEE Electron Device Letters.

[32]  Umesh K. Mishra,et al.  N-Polar GaN Cap MISHEMT With Record Power Density Exceeding 6.5 W/mm at 94 GHz , 2017, IEEE Electron Device Letters.

[33]  A. Tessmann,et al.  W-band power amplifier MMIC with 400 mW output power in 0.1 µm AlGaN/GaN technology , 2012, 2012 7th European Microwave Integrated Circuit Conference.

[34]  A. Margomenos,et al.  92–96 GHz GaN power amplifiers , 2012, 2012 IEEE/MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest.

[35]  O. Ambacher,et al.  Broadband E-Band Power Amplifier MMIC Based on an AlGaN/GaN HEMT Technology with 30 dBm Output Power , 2016, 2016 IEEE Compound Semiconductor Integrated Circuit Symposium (CSICS).

[36]  S. Denbaars,et al.  Recent progress in metal-organic chemical vapor deposition of $\left( 000\bar{1} \right)$ N-polar group-III nitrides , 2014 .