AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors on Si(111) substrates

AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) on silicon substrates have for the first time been realized using organometallic vapor phase epitaxy (OMVPE). Using 1 Ω-cm p-Si(111), these devices exhibited static output characteristics with low output conductance and isolation approaching 80 V. Under microwave rf operation, the substrate charge becomes capacitively coupled and parasitically loads these devices thereby limiting their performance. As a result, typical 0.3 μm gate length devices show a 25 GHz cutoff frequency, with near unity f_max/f_T ratio and 0.55 W/mm output power. A small-signal equivalent circuit incorporating elements representing the parasitic substrate loading accurately models the measured S-parameters. Removal of the conductive substrate is one way to effectively eliminate this parasitic loading. Through backside processing, freestanding 0.4-mm HEMT membranes with no thermal management were demonstrated and exhibited a significant improvement in their f_max/f_T ratio up to 2.5 at the cost of lower f_T and f_max along with an almost four-fold reduction of I_dss