First demonstration of high-power GaN-on-silicon transistors at 40 GHz

F Medjdoub (1) , Malek Zegaoui (1) , B. Grimbert (1) , Damien Ducatteau (1) , N. Rolland (1) , Paul-Alain Rolland (1)

1 IEMN - Institut d’Électronique, de Microélectronique et de Nanotechnologie - UMR 8520

In this letter, high-output-power-density GaN-based high-electron-mobility transistors grown on a 100-mm silicon substrate is demonstrated for the first time at 40 GHz. The use of an optimized double heterostructure based on ultrathin barrier AlN/GaN allows both high current density and low leakage current, resulting in high-frequency performance (f max close to 200 GHz). Furthermore, the control of the trapping effects on these highly scaled devices enabled to set a first benchmark at 40 GHz with 2.5 W/mm at V DS = 15 V, mainly limited by RF losses and thermal issues. These results show that an AlN/GaN/AlGaN heterostructure grown on silicon substrate is a viable technology for cost-effective high-power millimeter-wave amplifiers fully compatible with standard Si-based devices.

Mots clés: AlN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs); grown on silicon substrate (GaN-on-Si); high output power density; Ka-band

Domaines: Sciences de l'ingénieur [physics]

F Medjdoub, Malek Zegaoui, B. Grimbert, Damien Ducatteau, N. Rolland, et al.. First demonstration of high-power GaN-on-silicon transistors at 40 GHz. IEEE Electron Device Letters, 2012, 33 (8), pp.1168-1170. ⟨10.1109/LED.2012.2198192⟩. ⟨hal-00786912⟩