Low noise RF MOSFETs on flexible plastic substrates

Abstract

We report a low 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 1.1 dB and high associated gain (12 dB at 10 GHz) for 16 gate-finger 0.18-μm RF MOSFETs, after thinning down the Si substrate to 30 μm and mounting it on plastic. The device performance was improved by flexing the substrate to create stress, which produced a 25% enhancement of the saturation drain current and lowered NF <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">min</sub> to 0.92 dB at 10 GHz. These excellent results for mechanically strained RF MOSFETs on plastic compare well with 0.13-μm node (L/sub g/=80 nm) devices.