Physical/electromagnetic pHEMT modeling

An effective technique, which is based only on geometrical and physical data, is presented for the analysis of high-frequency FETs. The intrinsic part of this electron device is described by a quasi-two-dimensional hydrodynamic transport model, coupled to a numerical electromagnetic field time domain solver in three dimensions that analyzes the passive part of the FET. Such an analysis is entirely performed in the time domain, thus allowing linear and nonlinear operations. The obtained data give insights to some parameters affecting the signal distribution through the entire device structure; a comprehensive discussion of these is given for a test device. In order to prove the validity of the approach, the bias-dependent small-signal analysis is compared with the corresponding measurements up to 50 GHz for two 0.3-μm gate-length AlGaAs-InGaAs-GaAs pseudomorphic high electron-mobility transistors, each having two gate fingers of 25-μm and 100-μm width, at bias points ranging from Idss to the pinchoff regime. The accuracy and the efficiency of the approach make it suitable for device optimization.