Mechanism of current collapse removal in field-plated nitride HFETs

An experimental study of the mechanism of RF current collapse removal in high-power nitride-based HFETs is presented. The results show that the conductivity of the dielectric material under the field plate plays a crucial role in the current collapse removal. Identical geometry field plated HFETs differing only in the FP dielectric conductivity show varying degree of current collapse removal. Devices with semiconducting dielectric layers exhibit perfectly linear RF power - drain bias dependence with the output powers of 20 W/mm at 55 V drain bias with essentially no current collapse. A trapped charge discharging model is presented to explain the removal of current collapse in FPd devices.