Quasi-1D channel InAlAs/InGaAs HEMT´s with improved fmax characteristics

High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMT´s) have benefited tremendously from recent material and technology advances. Among various material choices, InP-based HEMT´s using InAlAs/InGaAs heterostructures show excellent high-frequency and low-noise performance. f_T´s and f_max´s well above 300 GHz have been demonstrated using InAlAs/InGaAs HEMT´s with gate lengths smaller than 0.15 μm. One way of improving the performance of submicron microwave HEMT´s even further is by using striped-channels. Narrow channel stripes across the source and drain help, in this approach, to confine carrier transport laterally and obtain quasi-ID channels. The use of this approach has been reported for GaAs-based devices. In this paper, the quasi-1D channel design was applied to InAlAs/InGaAs HEMT´s. Various channel widths were realized in order to study the impact of quasi-1D channel geometry on the DC and microwave properties of submicron InAlAs/InGaAs HEMT´s