DC and pulsed measurements of on-state breakdown voltage in GaAs MESFETs and InP-based HEMTs

The BVDS-ID breakdown characteristics of MESFET and HEMT devices measured at constant gate current are correlated with conventional measurements of gate current due to impact-ionization. The influence of thermal effects on breakdown DC measurements is demonstrated. By adopting pulsed measurements, we confirm that on-state breakdown voltage of InP HEMTs decreases by increasing the temperature, while the opposite occurs in GaAs based MESFETs and HEMTs. We show that DC measurements are not suitable for evaluating on-state breakdown of power MESFETs and HEMTs, and we propose pulsed measurements as a viable alternative, 1999 Eisevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.