Christopher M. Snowden

Two-dimensional hot-electron models for short-gate-length GaAs MESFET's

A detailed hot-electron device model suitable for modeling short-gate-length GaAs MESFETs is described. A two-dimensional numerical simulation is used to solve a set of semiclassical carrier transport equations, including a full rigorous solution of the energy conservation equation. The importance of the hot-electron effects is demonstrated and in particular the role of the electron temperature gradient in addition to velocity overshoot is emphasized. The influence of doping and mobility profiles are investigated and found to have a very significant effect on the device characteristics. The model is applied to a range of submicrometer-gate-length devices and is shown to be useful for characterizing devices with gate lengths down to less than 0.1 µm. The dependence of saturated drain current on gate length is quantified.

Golgi-mediated vacuolar sorting of the endoplasmic reticulum chaperone BiP may play an active role in quality control within the secretory pathway.

Quality control in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) prevents the arrival of incorrectly or incompletely folded proteins at their final destinations and targets permanently misfolded proteins for degradation. Such proteins have a high affinity for the ER chaperone BiP and are finally degraded via retrograde translocation from the ER lumen back to the cytosol. This ER-associated protein degradation (ERAD) is currently thought to constitute the main disposal route, but there is growing evidence for a vacuolar role in quality control. We show that BiP is transported to the vacuole in a wortmannin-sensitive manner in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) and that it could play an active role in this second disposal route. ER export of BiP occurs via COPII-dependent transport to the Golgi apparatus, where it competes with other HDEL receptor ligands. When HDEL-mediated retrieval from the Golgi fails, BiP is transported to the lytic vacuole via multivesicular bodies, which represent the plant prevacuolar compartment. We also demonstrate that a subset of BiP-ligand complexes is destined to the vacuole and differs from those likely to be disposed of via the ERAD pathway. Vacuolar disposal could act in addition to ERAD to maximize the efficiency of quality control in the secretory pathway.

Electrothermal CAD of power devices and circuits with fully physical time-dependent compact thermal modeling of complex nonlinear 3-d systems

An original, fully analytical, spectral domain decomposition approach is presented for the time-dependent thermal modeling of complex nonlinear (3-D) electronic systems, from metallized power FETs and MMICs, through MCMs, up to circuit board level. This solution method offers a powerful alternative to conventional numerical thermal simulation techniques, and is constructed to be compatible with explicitly coupled electrothermal device and circuit simulation on CAD timescales. In contrast to semianalytical, frequency space, Fourier solutions involving DFT-FFT, the method presented here is based on explicit, fully analytical, double Fourier series expressions for thermal subsystem solutions in Laplace transform s-space (complex frequency space). It is presented in the form of analytically exact thermal impedance matrix expressions for thermal subsystems. These include double Fourier series solutions for rectangular multilayers, which are an order of magnitude faster to evaluate than existing semi-analytical Fourier solutions based on DFT-FFT. They also include double Fourier series solutions for the case of arbitrarily distributed volume heat sources and sinks, constructed without the use of Greens function techniques, and for rectangular volumes with prescribed fluxes on all faces, removing the adiabatic sidewall boundary condition. This combination allows treatment of arbitrarily inhomogeneous complex geometries, and provides a description of thermal material nonlinearities as well as inclusion of position varying and non linear surface fluxes. It provides a fully physical, and near exact, generalized multiport network parameter description of nonlinear, distributed thermal subsystems, in both the time and frequency domains. In contrast to existing circuit level approaches, it requires no explicit lumped element, RC-network approximation or nodal reduction, for fully coupled, electrothermal CAD. This thermal impedance matrix approach immediately gives rise to minimal boundary condition independent compact models for thermal systems. Implementation of the time-dependent thermal model as N-port netlist elements within a microwave circuit simulation engine, Transim (NCSU), is described. Electrothermal transient, single-tone, two-tone, and multitone harmonic balance simulations are presented for a MESFET amplifier. This thermal model is validated experimentally by thermal imaging of a passive grid array representative of one form of spatial power combining architecture.

Quasi-two-dimensional MESFET simulations for CAD

A comprehensive quasi-two-dimensional simulation that has been applied to the design and modeling of submicrometer recessed-gate GaAs MESFETs is described. A detailed energy transport model using a fast and accurate algorithm is solved. The model accounts for avalanche breakdown and gate conduction. DC and microwave characteristics are obtained from the model. An accurate approach for simulating frequency-, amplitude-, and bias-dependent two-port RF parameters is described, and the results obtained are compared to measured data. The agreement between measured and predicted data is found to be excellent. >

Computer-aided design of RF and microwave circuits and systems

The history of RF and microwave computer-aided engineering is documented in the annals of the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society. The era began with elaborate analytically based models of microwave components and simple computer-aided techniques to cascade, cascode, and otherwise connect linear component models to obtain the responses of linear microwave circuits. Development has become rapid with computer-oriented microwave practices addressing complex geometries and with the ability to globally model and optimize large circuits. The pursuit of accurate models of active devices and of passive components continues to be a key activity.

Large-signal microwave characterization of AlGaAs/GaAs HBT's based on a physics-based electrothermal model

A physics-based multicell electrothermal equivalent circuit model is described that is applied to the large-signal microwave characterization of AlGaAs/GaAs HBTs. This highly efficient model, which incorporates a new multifinger electrothermal model, has been used to perform dc, small-signal and load-pull characterization, and investigate parameter-spreads due to fabrication process variations. An enhanced Newton algorithm is presented for solving the nonlinear system of equations for the model and associated circuit simulator, which allows a faster and more robust solution than contemporary quasi-Newton nonlinear schemes. The model has been applied to the characterization of heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) microwave power amplifiers.

Low-frequency dispersion and its influence on the intermodulation performance of AlGaAs/GaAs HBTs

The relationship between low-frequency dispersion and the intermodulation performance of AlGaAs/GaAs HBTs has been demonstrated for the first time. The theoretical analysis and experimental results indicate that IM/sub 3/ will depend strongly on the frequency spacing (/spl Delta/f=f/sub 2/-f/sub 1/) in the two-tone measurement.

Nonlinear dynamics in directly modulated multiple-quantum-well laser diodes

A theoretical and experimental analysis of the nonlinear dynamics of Fabry-Perot (FP) and distributed feedback (DFB) multiple-quantum-well (MQW) laser diodes is presented. The analysis is performed under single-tone and two-tone direct modulation. In the FP laser, we observe period doubling and in the DFB laser both period doubling and period tripling are identified. Period doubling is found over a wide range of modulation frequencies in both lasers. The reason for this wide modulation frequency range is attributed to the large relaxation frequencies found in MQW laser diodes. The spontaneous emission factor is measured for both FP and DFB lasers. The dependencies of period doubling on output power and RF input power level are also analyzed. The nonlinear dynamics of the laser are found to be enhanced when modulated under two-tone modulation. Numerical simulations carried out show good agreement with the measured results.

A large-signal physical MESFET model for computer-aided design and its applications

A quasi-static, large-signal MESFET circuit model is presented. It is based on a comprehensive quasi-two-dimensional, semiclassical, physical device simulation, and its unique formulation and efficiency make it suitable for the computer-aided design of nonlinear MESFET subsystems. Using this approach the semiconductor equations are reduced to a consistent one-dimensional approximation requiring substantially less computing resources than a full two-dimensional simulation. CPU time is typically reduced by a factor of 1000. A single/two-tone harmonic balance analysis procedure which uses the describing frequency concept is also developed and combined with the MESFET model. Numerical load-pull contours as well as intermodulation distortion contours have been simulated; their comparison with measured results validates the approach taken. >

A large-signal physical HEMT model

This paper reports a new, efficient physical HEMT model capable of accurately predicting DC, small- and large-signal performance. It has been interfaced to an industry standard simulator which allows for accurate, large-signal simulation to be integrated into the design process. Large-signal results demonstrate the models suitability for MMIC CAD.