Passivation of GaAs field-effect transistors in diluted S2Cl2 solution

S2Cl2 diluted in the non-conductive CCl4 solvent has been successfully applied to the passivation of GaAs field-effect transistors. In such a solution, in situ measurements of current–voltage (I–V) characteristics of the devices are accessible while the passivation is in process. By comparing the I–V data measured from the devices upon passivation in various concentrated S2Cl2 solutions, it is found that the volume ratio of 10 5 (S2Cl2:CCl4) represents the optimal concentration where dipping of a device for 450 s or so will result in a 28% rise in breakdown voltage while the transconductance reduces only by 10%. # 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved