Microwave Low-Noise Performance of 0.17~\mu \text Gate-Length AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on SiC With Wide Head Double-Deck T-Shaped Gate

• Published in: IEEE electron device letters Vol. 37; no. 11; pp. 1407 - 1410
• Main Authors: Yoon, Hyung Sup, Min, Byoung-Gue, Lee, Jong Min, Kang, Dong Min, Ahn, Ho-Kyun, Kim, Haecheon, Lim, Jongwon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01-11-2016; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: AlGaN/GaN; Aluminum gallium nitride; cutoff frequency; HEMTs; HEMTs on SiC; Logic gates; minimum noise figure; MODFETs; Noise; Performance evaluation; Silicon carbide; T-shaped gate; Wide band gap semiconductors
• ISSN: 0741-3106; 1558-0563
• DOI: 10.1109/LED.2016.2612624

Microwave low-noise performance AlGaN/GaN HEMT on a SiC substrate with a wide head double-deck T-shaped gate has been reported. The HEMTs with gatelength (L g ) of 0.17 μm and source-drain spacing (L sd ) of 3.5 μm exhibited a maximum extrinsic transconductance of 360 mS/mm, a current gain cutoff frequency (f T ) of 50 GHz, a maximum oscillation frequency (f max ) of 149 GHz, and three-terminal breakdown voltage of 113 V. The device exhibited a minimum noise figure (NF min ) of 0.50 and 0.84 dB at 10 and 18 GHz, respectively, when biased at V ds = 5 V and I ds = 140 mA/mm, which is the lowest noise characteristics ever reported for the GaN-based T-shaped gate HEMTs with gate length larger than 0.1 μm. This excellent noise performance is attributed to the reduction of the gate resistance resulting from a wide head T-shaped gate and the improved device characteristics.