Low-Noise Microwave Performance of AlN/GaN HEMTs Grown on Silicon Substrate

Abstract

Microwave noise performance of state-of-the-art AIN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) grown on 100-mm Si substrate has been investigated. DC and RF measurements show the outstanding potential of this structure for high power millimeter-wave (mmW) applications. A maximum output current density of about 2 A/mm, together with a low gate leakage current, and a record GaN-on-Si extrinsic transconductance above 600 mS/mm are demonstrated. The current gain cutoff frequency f <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">T</sub> and the maximum oscillation frequency f <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">max</sub> were 85 and 103 GHz, respectively, with a 0.16-μm gate length. At V <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">DS</sub> = 4 V, the device exhibits a minimum noise figure (NF <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">min</sub> ) of 1 dB (1.8 dB) with an associated gain (G <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">A</sub> ) of 12 dB (10 dB) at 10 GHz (18 GHz) favorably comparable to the best reported GaN-on-Si HEMTs. These results show that AIN/GaN HEMTs grown on silicon substrate are promising for the integration of cost effective, low noise, and high power mmW amplifiers.