Damien Ducatteau

Record Combination of Power-Gain Cut-Off Frequency and Three-Terminal Breakdown Voltage for GaN-on-Silicon Devices

We report on an emerging GaN double heterostructure grown on silicon, which enables the simultaneous achievement of high breakdown voltage and high frequency performance. The use of an AlN barrier layer capped by an in situ SiN layer, and the introduction of an AlGaN back barrier layer in addition to standard field plates enabled the achievement of a remarkable three-terminal breakdown voltage VBK of over 100 V together with a power gain fmax above 200 GHz for the first time on GaN devices grown on silicon substrates. This results in a record combination of fmaxVBK of above 20 THz V, promising breakthrough performance for widespread millimeter-wave applications.

High Power Density Performances of SiGe HBT From BiCMOS Technology at W-Band

In this letter, we report load pull measurements on SiGe HBTs at 94 GHz. Nowadays, this kind of device exhibits FMAX above 400 GHz and thus has a growing interest for W-band applications. A load pull test bench is developed for the characterization of this device with special care on architecture and calibration procedure for accurate measurements in 75-110 GHz. The device was characterized under large signal operation showing attractive performance for power amplifier design. A state-of-the-art power density of 18.5 mW/μm2 at 1-dB compression has been obtained at 94 GHz.

Bias Dependence of Gallium Nitride Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems Actuation Using a Two-Dimensional Electron Gas

The piezoelectric actuation of a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) resonator based on an AlGaN/GaN heterostructure is studied under various bias conditions. Using an actuator electrode that is also a transistor gate, we correlate the mechanical behaviour to the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) presence. The measured amplitude of the actuated resonator is maximum at moderate negative biases and drops near the pinch-off voltage in concordance with the 2DEG becoming depleted. Below the pinch-off voltage, residual actuation is still present, which is attributed to a more complex electric field pattern supported by quantitative modelling. The results confirm that epitaxial AlGaN barriers are fully adapted to the piezoelectric actuation of MEMS.

First Reliability Demonstration of Sub-200-nm AlN/GaN-on-Silicon Double-Heterostructure HEMTs for Ka-Band Applications

In this paper, an emerging double-heterostructure high-electron mobility transistor based on AlN/GaN/AlGaN grown on silicon substrate is presented, which enables a unique simultaneous achievement of high breakdown voltage and high frequency performance. This configuration system allowed state-of-the-art GaN-on-silicon dc, RF output power, and noise performances at 40 GHz, paving the way for high-performance millimeter-wave (mmW) cost-effective amplifiers. Preliminary reliability assessment has been performed on this new class of RF devices, showing promising mmW GaN-on-Si device stability for the first time.

Radiation Pattern Measurements of an Integrated Transverse Electromagnetic Horn Antenna Using a Terahertz Photomixing Setup

We report experimental radiation pattern measurements of a transverse electromagnetic horn antenna at the millimetric/sub-millimetric frontier (280-350 GHz). The antenna is fed by a monolithically integrated uni-travelling-carrier photodiode illuminated by an optical beatnote (photomixing) at 1.55 μm. The detection is performed using an electronic sub-harmonic mixer and the whole characterization system is working at room temperature. Radiation patterns are measured in the E-plane and compared with electromagnetic simulations with a good agreement.

Nonlinear Characterization and Modeling of Carbon Nanotube Field-Effect Transistors

We report for the first time to our knowledge large-signal measurements performed at 600 MHz and in time domain on carbon nanotube field-effect transistors (CNFETs) using a large-signal network analyzer. To overcome the very high mismatch between the high CNFET impedance and the basic 50-Omega configuration of the setup, the output impedance was matched with the help of an experimental active load-pull configuration. Hence, we were able to observe under large-signal conditions the nonlinear behavior of CNFETs. Static measurements and continuous-wave S ij -parameter measurements were made for many different biases. They were used in order to determine a nonlinear electrical model that has been validated thanks to the nonlinear measurements. The developed model opens the way for electrical CNFET circuit simulation and nonlinear applications of these devices.

Nonlinear measurement of non periodic pulse train with mixer based NVNA dedicated to radar power amplifier

A measurement of time domain waveforms using a commercial two ports mixer based NVNA to measure a non periodic repetitive radar pulse train as a periodic one was performed. Then for the first time a 20 GHz six port mixer based NVNA able to measure three different frequencies at the same time is designed and validated. This instrument allowed us to overcome the imprecision caused by the sequential measurements of the different tones that arise when the device under test present a highly unstable pulse to pulse behavior which is common in radar functioning conditions. It was possible to catch the non linear behavior of a device within a truly non periodic predefined pulse train. The measurements are performed on an S-band 5W GaN on silicon HEMT.

Nonlinear measurement dedicated to non periodic pulse train for radar power amplifier characterization

A six port mixer based 20GHz nonlinear vector network analyzer (NVNA) dedicated to the characterization of radar power amplifier driven by non periodic pulsed signal is proposed. For the first time a mixer based NVNA is able to measure the fundamental and two harmonics simultaneously while using non periodic radar pulse train allowing measuring time domain waveforms and pulse to pulse measurement within actual radar conditions. The measurement is applied on an S-band 5W GaN on silicon HEMT.

GaN devices for power amplifier design

This paper describes some aspects of the fabrication and modeling of a GaN device to be employed in a power amplifier covering one WiMAX frequency band. The work has been carried out in the frame of the TARGETs NoE work package WiSELPAS. Details concerning the AlGaN/GaN device technology and the performed linear and nonlinear measurements are provided. Since these new devices require specific nonlinear models, a procedure for selecting an appropriate simplified nonlinear model and for extracting its parameters is discussed and evaluated. The developed nonlinear model has been experimentally tested under linear and nonlinear conditions. The agreement between experimental and model-predicted performance suggests that the described model could be useful in a preliminary power amplifier design.

0.2-

We report a 94-GHz large-signal load-pull characterization of InP/GaAsSb double heterojunction bipolar transistors. The investigated devices have an emitter area of 0.20 × 9.5 μm². Biased for highest power added efficiency (PAE), an output power of 6.62 mW/μm² (11 dBm), a power gain of 5.2 dB, and a PAE of 27.7% have been obtained. Biased for highest output power, 10.26 mW/μm² (12.8 dBm) has been achieved without significant degradation of the PAE (25.2%) and the power gain (4.5 dB).