Szu-Hung Chen

Low-noise metamorphic HEMTs with reflowed 0.1-/spl mu/m T-gate

A 0.1-/spl mu/m T-gate fabricated using e-beam lithography and thermally reflow process was developed and applied to the manufacture of the low-noise metamorphic high electron-mobility transistors (MHEMTs). The T-gate developed using the thermally reflowed e-beam resist technique had a gate length of 0.1 /spl mu/m and compatible with the MHEMT fabrication process. The MHEMT manufactured demonstrates a cutoff frequency f/sub T/ of 154 GHz and a maximum frequency f/sub max/ of 300 GHz. The noise figure for the 160 /spl mu/m gate-width device is less than 1 dB and the associated gain is up to 14 dB at 18 GHz. This is the first report of a 0.1 /spl mu/m MHEMT device manufactured using the reflowed e-beam resist process for T-gate formation.

Effect of Gate Sinking on the Device Performance of the InGaP/AlGaAs/InGaAs Enhancement-Mode PHEMT

An enhancement-mode InGaP/AlGaAs/InGaAs pseudomorphic high-electron mobility transistor using platinum (Pt) as the Schottky contact metal was investigated for the first time. Following the Pt/Ti/Pt/Au gate metal deposition, the devices were thermally annealed at 325 degC for gate sinking. After the annealing, the device showed a positive threshold voltage (Vth) shift from 0.17 to 0.41 V and a very low drain leakage current from 1.56 to 0.16 muA/mm. These improvements are attributed to the Schottky barrier height increase and the decrease of the gate-to-channel distance as Pt sinks into the InGaP Schottky layer during gate-sinking process. The shift in the Vth was very uniform across a 4-in wafer and was reproducible from wafer to wafer. The device also showed excellent RF power performance after the gate-sinking process

Enhanced electron emission from phosphorus-doped diamond-clad silicon field emitter arrays

Undoped and phosphorus (P)-doped diamond-clad Si field emitter arrays have been successfully fabricated using microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD) technology. The electron emission from the blunt diamond-clad microtips are much higher than those for the pure Si tips with sharp curvature due to a lower work function. Furthermore, the characteristics of emission current against applied voltage for the P-doped diamond-clad tips show superior emission at lower field to the undoped ones. After the examination of Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and electrical characteristics of as-grown diamond, such a significant enhancement of the electron emission from the P-doped diamond-clad tips is attributed to a higher electron conductivity and defect densities.

2 V-operated InGaP-AlGaAs-InGaAs enhancement-mode pseudomorphic HEMT

A low-voltage single power supply enhancement-mode InGaP-AlGaAs-InGaAs pseudomorphic high-electron mobility transistor (PHEMT) is reported for the first time. The fabricated 0.5/spl times/160 /spl mu/m/sup 2/ device shows low knee voltage of 0.3 V, drain-source current (I/sub DS/) of 375 mA/mm and maximum transconductance of 550 mS/mm when drain-source voltage (V/sub DS/) was 2.5 V. High-frequency performance was also achieved; the cut-off frequency(F/sub t/) is 60 GHz and maximum oscillation frequency(F/sub max/) is 128 GHz. The noise figure of the 160-/spl mu/m gate width device at 17 GHz was measured to be 1.02 dB with 10.12 dB associated gain. The E-mode InGaP-AlGaAs-InGaAs PHEMT exhibits a high output power density of 453 mW/mm with a high linear gain of 30.5 dB at 2.4 GHz. The E-mode PHEMT can also achieve a high maximum power added efficiency (PAE) of 70%, when tuned for maximum PAE.

SPDT GaAs Switches With Copper Metallized Interconnects

Copper metallized AlGaAs/InGaAs pseudomorphic high-electron-mobility transistor (PHEMT) single-pole-double-throw (SPDT) switches utilizing platinum (Pt, 70nm) as the diffusion barrier is reported for the first time. In comparison with the Au metallized switches, the Cu metallized SPDT switches exhibited comparable performance with insertion loss of less than 0.5dB, isolation larger than 35dB and the input power for one dB compression (input P1dB ) of 27dBm at 2.5GHz. These switches were annealed at 250deg for 20h for thermal stability test and showed no degradation of the dc characteristics after the annealing. Also, after 144h of high temperature storage life (HTSL) environment test, these switches still remained excellent and reliable radio frequency (RF) characteristics. It is successfully demonstrated for the first time that the copper metallization using Pt as the diffusion barrier could be applied to the GaAs monolithic microwave integrated circuits switch fabrication with good RF performance and reliability

New nanometer T-gate fabricated by thermally reflowed resist technique

Novel nanometer T-gate process has been developed utilizing electron beam (EB) lithography and thermally reflowed resist technique. Through well-controlled EB exposure dosage, heating time and reflow temperature, the resist structures can be efficiently reflowed to form the desired T-gate configuration with dimension ranging from 150 nm to 30 nm. After Ti/Pt/Au metal deposition by electron gun evaporation and lift-off process, the nanometer T-gates with thickness of about 500 nm were formed. With the optimized conditions, ultra-short 30 nm T-shaped gate was clearly demonstrated on the GaAs substrate. This is the smallest T-gate reported with the thermally reflowed technique in the literature so far and can practically be used in the GaAs monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) fabrications.

A GaAs/AlAs Wet Selective Etch Process for the Gate Recess of GaAs Power Metal-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors

A highly selective wet chemical etch process for gate recess of the GaAs power metal-semiconductor field effect transistors (MESFETs) was developed. The power MESFETs used in this study were epitaxially grown devices with a 20 A AlAs etch-stop layer for gate recess. The selective etch process using citric acid/potassium citrate/hydrogen peroxide solution was studied. A selectivity better than 3800:1 was achieved for GaAs/AlAs layers. This selective etch was applied both to high-power, high-voltage power MESFETs and low-voltage large-periphery power MESFETs. For high-power applications the 14.7 mm device had a breakdown voltage of 22 V. When tested at 1.88 GHz with a drain bias of 10 V, it provided a maximum output power of 38.8 dBm and a maximum power-added efficiency of 52.5%. For low-voltage applications, the 19.8 mm device was tested under IS-95 code-division multiple access (CDMA) modulation at 1.88 GHz with a drain bias of 3.5 V. Under CDMA modulation, the device showed an output power of 28.03 dBm with an adjacent channel power rejection of -29.6 dBc at 1.25 MHz offset frequency. Both devices also showed excellent uniformity in pinch-off voltages.

Self-assembled In0.22Ga0.78As quantum dots grown on metamorphic GaAs/Ge/SixGe1-x/Si substrate

Self-assembled In0.22Ga0.78As quantum dots (QDs) grown on Si substrate with Ge∕SiGe as buffer layer grown by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy were investigated. Transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy images were used to observe the size and space distribution of the In0.22Ga0.78As QDs grown on the GaAs∕Ge∕GeSi∕Si layer structure. The influence of the growth temperature on the QDs size and density distribution was investigated. For QDs grown at 450°C, the density of the In0.22Ga0.78As dots was estimated to be 1×1011cm−2 and the In0.22Ga0.78As QDs thickness was 5 ML (monolayer) thick.

Thermal stability of Ti∕Pt∕Cu Schottky contact on InAlAs layer

Electrical characteristics and thermal stability of the Ti∕Pt∕Cu Schottky contact on InAlAs were investigated. The Ti∕Pt∕Cu Schottky contact had comparable electrical properties compared to the conventional Ti∕Pt∕Au contact after annealing. As judged from the material analysis, the Ti∕Pt∕Cu on InAlAs after 350°C annealing showed no diffusion sign into the InAlAs. After 400°C annealing, the interfacial mixing of Cu and the underlying layers occurred and resulted in the formation of Cu4Ti. The results show that Ti∕Pt∕Cu Schottky contact using platinum as the diffusion barrier is very stable up to 350°C annealing and can be used for InAlAs∕InGaAs high-electron mobility transistors and monolithic microwave integrated circuits.

A planar gate double beryllium implanted GaAs power MESFET for low voltage digital wireless communication application

An ion-implanted planar gate power MESFET for low voltage digital wireless communication system including DCS1800 (digital cellular system at 1800 MHz) and CDMA (code division multiple access) handset applications has been developed. The process for the device developed contains double Be implantation to reduce the surface and substrate defect trapping effects. The MESFET process developed has very little gate recess (less then 200 /spl Aring/), which greatly improves the uniformity and the yield of the wafer. The 1 /spl mu/m/spl times/20 mm MESFET manufactured using this planar gate technology exhibits an output power of 32.98 dBm and power added efficiency over 53% with gain of 11.2 dB when tested at 1.9 GHz under 3.6 V drain bias voltage and 80 mA quiescent drain current. The pinch off voltage of the 20 mm devices within a wafer is -2.81 V with a standard deviation of 120 mV. The device was also tested at 3.6 V and 1.9 GHz for CDMA application. Under the IS-95 CDMA modulation at 28 dBm output power, the device gain is 10.7 dB and the device has an adjacent channel power rejection (ACPR) of -29.5 dBc at 1.25 MHz offset frequency and -44.9 dBc at 2.25 MHz offset. The test data shows that the double Be implanted devices developed using the planar gate technology have very good linearity and efficiency and can be used for the low voltage DCS1800 and CDMA handset applications.