High DC and microwave characteristics of subhalf-micrometre gate ion-implanted GaAs MESFETs using trilayer deep UV lithography

Subhalf-micrometre gate length ion-implanted GaAs MESFETs have been fabricated on 3 inch diameter substrates using trilayer deep UV lithography. Implanted MESFETs with 0.3 mu m gate lengths exhibit a maximum extrinsic transconductance of 205 mS/mm at a drain current of 600 mA/mm. From S-parameter measurements, a current gain cutoff frequency f_t of 56 GHz and a maximum available gain cutoff frequency f_max greater than 90 GHz are achieved. The gate-to-drain diode characteristics of the devices show a sharp breakdown voltage of 13-15 V. The high drain current-drain voltage and microwave characteristics indicate that ion-implanted technology with trilayer deep UV lithography has potential for the manufacture of power devices and amplifiers for Q-band communication applications. This is the first reported result using trilayer deep UV lithography to demonstrate both f_t over 56 GHz and 13-15 V gate-to-drain breakdown on 0.3 mu m gate-length ion-implanted GaAs MESFETs.