Ultrahigh efficiency obtained with GaAs-on-insulator MESFET technology

Author

Jenkins, Thomas J. ; Kehias, Lois ; Parikh, Primit ; Ibbetson, James ; Mishra, Umesh ; Docter, Daniel ; Le, Minh ; Pusl, Joe ; Widman, Duncan

Author_Institution

Inst. of Technol., Wright-Patterson AFB, OH, USA

Volume

34

Issue

9

fYear

1999

fDate

9/1/1999 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1239

Lastpage

1245

Abstract

Significant results of measurement and calculation of power-added efficiency (PAE) and drain efficiency are presented for MESFET´s that use GaAs-on-insulator. Ultrahigh PAE of 89% was obtained at 8 GHz with a gain of 9.6 dB using a 3-V supply. When the voltage was increased to 4 V, the peak PAE was 93% at 210 mW/mm with 9.2-dB gain. The ideal current-voltage characteristics with practically zero leakage current and large transconductance near pinchoff yielded PAE values approaching the theoretical limits of overdriven operation. The application of conventional assumptions concerning drain efficiency is discussed relative to devices that approach these theoretical limits. Also discussed are the pitfalls of various figures of merit of efficiency when applied to these devices. Hence, there are two types of technical barriers associated with very-high-efficiency devices: the physical realization and their characterization

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; Schottky gate field effect transistors; alumina; gallium arsenide; microwave field effect transistors; microwave power transistors; semiconductor device measurement; semiconductor technology; semiconductor-insulator boundaries; 3 to 4 V; 8 GHz; 89 percent; 9.2 to 9.6 dB; 93 percent; GaAs-Al₂O₃; GaAs-on-insulator MESFET technology; PAE values; characterization; current-voltage characteristics; drain efficiency; figures of merit; ideal I-V characteristics; overdriven operation; physical realization; power-added efficiency; transconductance; ultrahigh efficiency; very-high-efficiency device; FETs; Laboratories; MESFETs; Microwave devices; Phased arrays; Power amplifiers; Power generation; Radio frequency; Solid state circuits; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Solid-State Circuits, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9200

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/4.782082

Filename

782082