The effects of electrochemically-induced etching non-uniformities on microwave field effect transistors

For the first time, direct experimental evidence of the electrochemical etching component, associated with wet chemical etching of semiconductor devices, is shown to produce significant non-uniformities in device (e.g. material) characteristics. Furthermore, it is shown that these electrochemically-induced non-uniformities (within the device itself) can significantly reduce RF performance of power microwave devices. Comparative microwave measurements between discrete power devices that had, or did not have, electrochemically-induced non-uniformities, clearly demonstrated marked differences in device power-added efficiency (PAE).<>