Breakdown of overlapping-gate GaAs MESFETs

Author

Chen, Chang-Lee

Author_Institution

Lincoln Lab., MIT, Lexington, MA, USA

Volume

43

Issue

4

fYear

1996

fDate

4/1/1996 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

535

Lastpage

542

Abstract

Gate-breakdown mechanisms in GaAs MESFETs have been studied by numerical simulation. The devices simulated include normal passivated and unpassivated MESFETs as well as overlapping-gate MESFETs passivated with low-temperature-grown (LTG) GaAs, normal GaAs, and silicon dioxide. The breakdown voltage is the highest for the overlapping-gate MESFET with LTG GaAs passivation, which agrees with the experimental results reported previously. The high breakdown voltage is the result of an altered electric field near the drain-edge of the Schottky-contact gate. This field modification is achieved most effectively by using an overlapping gate structure. The LTG GaAs is the best passivation layer because of its high resistivity and breakdown-field strength

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; Schottky gate field effect transistors; electric breakdown; electric fields; gallium arsenide; numerical analysis; passivation; semiconductor device models; GaAs; LTG GaAs passivation; Schottky-contact gate; electric field; field modification; gate-breakdown mechanisms; high breakdown voltage; low-temperature-grown GaAs; numerical simulation; overlapping-gate MESFET; passivated MESFET; Conductivity; Electric breakdown; Gallium arsenide; MESFETs; Molecular beam epitaxial growth; Molecular beams; Numerical simulation; Passivation; Schottky barriers; Silicon compounds;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Devices, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9383

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/16.485534

Filename

485534