Over 10W/mm High Power Density AlGaN/GaN HEMTs With Small Gate Length by the Stepper Lithography for Ka-Band Applications

This study reports AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) fabricated by the Stepper Lithography on a 4-inch wafer for Ka-Band applications. Small gate length (LG) of 100 nm was achieved through a 2-Step Photolithography Process and the gate region of the AlGaN/GaN HEMT was defined by u...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ming-Wen Lee, Yueh-Chin Lin, Po-Sheng Chang, Yi-Fan Tsao, Heng-Tung Hsu, Chang-Fu Dee, Edward Yi Chang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2023-01-01
Series:IEEE Journal of the Electron Devices Society
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10129122/
Description
Summary:This study reports AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) fabricated by the Stepper Lithography on a 4-inch wafer for Ka-Band applications. Small gate length (LG) of 100 nm was achieved through a 2-Step Photolithography Process and the gate region of the AlGaN/GaN HEMT was defined by using two lithography steps to form gamma-shaped gates. The 4-inch AlGaN/GaN HEMT wafer demonstrated high electrical performance uniformity with respect to the maximum drain-source current density (IDSS), the peak extrinsic output transconductance (Gm), and the threshold voltage (Vth). At <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\mathrm{ V}}_{\mathrm{ DS}}\,\,=$ </tex-math></inline-formula> 20 V, the AlGaN/GaN HEMT exhibits an <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\mathrm{ I}}_{\mathrm{ DSS}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> of 1004.2 mA/mm, a Gm value of 363.6 mS/mm, a maximum output power density (POUT(MAX)) of over 10 W/mm, and a power gain of 8.8 dB with a maximum 51.1&#x0025; Power-added efficiency (PAE) at 28 GHz in Continuous Wave (CW) mode. The results show the potential of AlGaN/GaN HEMT fabrication with high yield and outstanding RF performance using Stepper Lithography for 5G applications.
ISSN:2168-6734