AlGaN-GaN HEMTs on SiC with CW power performance of >4 W/mm and 23% PAE at 35 GHz

In this work, continuous wave Ka-band power performance of AlGaN-GaN high electron-mobility transistors grown on semi-insulating SiC substrates are reported. The devices, with gate lengths of 0.25 /spl mu/m, exhibited maximum drain current density of 1.1 A/mm and peak extrinsic transconductance of 285 mS/mm. At 35 GHz, an output power density of 4.13 W/mm with 23% of power-added efficiency (PAE) and 7.54 dB of linear gain were achieved at a drain bias of 30 V. These power results represent the best power density, PAE, and gain combination reported at this frequency. The drain bias dependence of the Ka-band power performance of these devices is also presented.

[1]  M. Barsky,et al.  1.6 w/mm, 26% PAE AlGaN/GaN HEMT operation at 29GHz , 2001, International Electron Devices Meeting. Technical Digest (Cat. No.01CH37224).

[2]  H. Massler,et al.  AlGaN/GaN-HEMTs for power applications up to 40 GHz , 2002, Proceedings. IEEE Lester Eastman Conference on High Performance Devices.

[3]  Michael S. Shur,et al.  AlGaN/GaN metal–oxide–semiconductor heterostructure field-effect transistors on SiC substrates , 2000 .

[4]  H. Kim,et al.  Influence of barrier thickness on the high-power performance of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs , 2001, IEEE Electron Device Letters.

[5]  J. Palmour,et al.  Applications of SiC MESFETs and GaN HEMTs in power amplifier design , 2002, 2002 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest (Cat. No.02CH37278).

[6]  Umesh K. Mishra,et al.  Very-high power density AlGaN/GaN HEMTs , 2001 .

[7]  Ka-band 2.3W power AlGaN/GaN heterojunction FET , 2002, Digest. International Electron Devices Meeting,.

[8]  AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on SiC operating at 40 GHz , 2002, Digest. International Electron Devices Meeting,.

[9]  G. Simin,et al.  AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on SiC with f/sub T/ of over 120 GHz , 2002, IEEE Electron Device Letters.