A high power density TaN/Au T-gate pHEMT with high humidity resistance for Ka-Band applications

Author

Amasuga, Hirotaka ; Goto, Seiki ; Shiga, Toshihiko ; Totsuka, Masahiro ; Kunii, Tetsuo ; Oku, Tomoki ; Ishikawa, Takahide ; Matsuda, Yoshio

Author_Institution

High Frequency & Opt. Semicond. Works, Mitsubishi Electr. Corp., Hyogo, Japan

fYear

2005

fDate

12-17 June 2005

Abstract

A 0.8 W/mm high power pHEMT with high humidity resistance is reported. By using tantalum nitride as the refractory gate metal and a silicon nitride layer prepared by a catalytic chemical vapor deposition technique for passivation of this transistor, tough moisture resistance was obtained showing no Id degradation even after 500 hours at 130 degrees centigrade and 85% humidity. Moreover, the Schottky breakdown voltage of the TaN gate is higher than that of a WSiN gate. A one-stage prematched amplifier with the new pHEMT has achieved 0.83 W/mm output power at Vds = 8 V, with 8.5 dB gain and 40% power added efficiency in the Ka-band. These are some of the highest power figures ever reported.

Keywords

chemical vapour deposition; field effect MMIC; gold compounds; passivation; power HEMT; power integrated circuits; semiconductor device breakdown; tantalum compounds; 130 C; 40 percent; 500 hours; 8 V; 8.5 dB; Ka-Band applications; Schottky breakdown voltage; T-gate pHEMT; TaN-Au; catalytic chemical vapor deposition; high power pHEMT; humidity resistance; millimeter wave power FET amplifiers; moisture resistance; passivation; prematched amplifier; refractory gate metal; semiconductor device fabrication; Chemical vapor deposition; Degradation; Gold; Humidity; Moisture; PHEMTs; Passivation; Power amplifiers; Power generation; Silicon;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Microwave Symposium Digest, 2005 IEEE MTT-S International

ISSN

01490-645X

Print_ISBN

0-7803-8845-3

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/MWSYM.2005.1516745

Filename

1516745