More Than Moore: GaN HEMTs and Si CMOS Get It Together

Advances in silicon technology continue to revolutionize microelectronics. However, Si cannot do everything and circuits based on other materials systems are required. What is the best way to integrate these dissimilar materials and enhance the capabilities of Si, thereby continuing the microelectronics revolution? In this paper, we summarize our results on the successful integration of GaN HEMTs with Si CMOS on a common silicon substrate using an integration/fabrication process similar to a SiGe BiCMOS process. Our GaN - Si CMOS process is being scaled to 200 mm diameter wafers and integrated with scaled CMOS and used to fabricate RF and mixed signals circuits with on-chip digital control/calibration. Thus, heterogeneous integration of GaN with Si CMOS enables a new class of high performance ICs that enhance the capabilities of existing systems, enable new circuit architectures and facilitate the continued proliferation of low cost microelectronics for a wide range of applications.