Title :
The effects of electrochemically-induced etching non-uniformities on microwave field effect transistors
Author :
Metze, George M. ; McPhilmy, Steve ; Laux, Paul
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. Eng., Maryland Univ., College Park, MD, USA
Abstract :
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).<>
Keywords :
etching; microwave field effect transistors; microwave power transistors; power field effect transistors; RF performance; device power-added efficiency; electrochemically-induced etching nonuniformities; field effect transistors; microwave FET; power microwave devices; semiconductor devices; wet chemical etching; Chemicals; FETs; Feeds; HEMTs; Microwave devices; Power measurement; Senior members; Shape control; Topology; Wet etching;
Journal_Title :
Electron Device Letters, IEEE
