In this article, we report on the effective transconductance ( g _m ) and gain linearity improvement of submicrometer gate AlN-barrier-based transistors using GaN/InGaN coupling-channel structures. The fabricated AlN/GaN/InGaN coupling-channel high electron mobility transistor (CC-HEMT) showed flat g _m profile, greatly reduced g _m derivatives, and constant dynamic source resistance compared with an AlN/GaN HEMT using the same fabrication process. The highest extrinsic current gain cutoff frequency ( f _T ) of 55 GHz and the maximum oscillation frequency ( f _max ) of 80 GHz were obtained for 0.15- μm gate-length transistors, both of which remain constant values across wide input voltage ( V _GS ) of 4 V. Moreover, a significant theoretical OIP3 value boost by 7.1 dB has been observed using the CC-HEMT as compared to the AlN/GaN HEMT. The superior linearity performance of the CC-HEMT can be attributed to the strong channel-to-channel coupling effect. The drain bias-dependence of g _m , f _T , and f _max versus V _GS profiles illustrate that the linearity characteristics of the CC-HEMT greatly improve with an increase in V _DS . These results demonstrate the AlN/GaN/InGaN material system as a viable platform for high frequency requiring high-linearity applications.

In this paper, a high-performance gate-recessed AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) fabricated by the recess-arrayed ohmic contact technology is presented. An array of square columns was etched in the ohmic region, using Ti/Al/Ni/Au metal deposition and rapid annealing to fabricate a low-resistance ohmic contact. By using the transmission line method (TLM) measurement, an ohmic contact resistance (Rc) of 0.12 Ω·mm is measured, which is 70% lower than that of the reference device. The patterned ohmic contact HEMT (POC HEMT) exhibits the saturation current of 1130 mA/mm at Vds=10 V and Vgs=1 V, with a shift of the knee voltage from 6 V to 3 V. The RF measurement shows the power-added efficiency (PAE) of 71.6% at 5 GHz. After the third harmonic tuning, the PAE of 85.2% and the corresponding power density of 11.2 W/mm and power gain of 16.9 dB are obtained. According to the achieved results, the recess-arrayed ohmic contact processed GaN HEMT has a great potential for high RF efficiency and power applications.

In this article, the impact of the graded AlGaN back barrier and Fe\C co-doping buffer structure on the AlGaN $/$ GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) is proposed and systematically investigated. Due to effective suppression of Fe tail in unintentionally doped GaN (uid-GaN) layer by the insertion of the thick graded AlGaN back barrier layer, a large maximum drain current density and a transconductance peak are achieved. Meanwhile, the breakdown voltage is significantly improved by the use of Fe\C co-doping GaN buffer design. More importantly, it is revealed that the graded-AlGaN design can reduce the range and intensity of the electrical potential distribution in uid-GaN layer and then effectively suppress the acceptor-induced trapping\detrapping effect under high drain voltage. The RF small-signal performance of Fe-doped GaN (GaN:Fe)\C co-doping buffer HEMT exhibits significant improvement. In addition, load-pull measurement at 8 GHz revealed that a saturation power increases from 38.04 to 41.07 dB, a power gain increases from 9.06 to 10.58 dB, and an associate power-added-efficiency (PAE) increased from 40.27% to 50.18%. Our proposed GaN-based epitaxial structure can not only suppress the gate lag by reduce AlGaN surface electric field, but it can also suppress the drain lag by reduce the amplitude and range of potential distribution. It indicates that our proposed device has great potential for future high-voltage RF power amplifier application.

This letter demonstrated AlGaN/GaN enhancement-mode (E-mode) high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) with 30-nm Pb(Zr,Ti)O ₃ ferroelectric gate dielectric. The high-quality interface and polarization coupling resulted in the initial pre-poled ferroelectric polarization toward surface. Then, ferroelectric polarization engineering and gate poling were studied, realizing E-mode HEMTs with very high field-effect mobility of 1819 cm ² /V·s, ON/OFF current ratio larger than 1010, and the low sub-threshold slope of 90 mV/decade. Owing to the undestroyed 2-D electron gases channel, ferroelectric gate GaN-based E-mode HEMTs with high transport performance are promising candidates for high-speed logic circuit applications.

This work reports recent progress in the sub-6 GHz power performance of GaN-based HEMTs grown on high resistivity silicon substrates with passivation implanted termination (PIT) process. Thanks to the mitigated electric field crowding at the gate edge and the suppressed negative fixed charge-induced carrier depletion, the fabricated HEMTs demonstrate a low leakage current, a high ON/OFF current ratio of 10 ⁸ , and improved breakdown voltage associated with a current collapse at 40 V drain quiescent condition of as low as 5.6%. S-band continuous-wave large signal measurements yield a high power-added efficiency (PAE) of 69%, a drain efficiency (DE) of 72%, and an output power density ( ${P}_{\text{out}}$ ) of 7.2 W/mm at ${V}_{\text{DS}}=30$ V. Moreover, the transistor delivers a maximum ${P}_{\text{out}}$ up to 10.2 W/mm with a peak PAE of 63.8% at ${V}_{\text{DS}}=40$ V. The PAE and ${P}_{\text{out}}$ as a function of drain bias indicate that the transistors remain constant high PAE and linearly increased ${P}_{\text{out}}$ over a wide range of drain voltage variation. These excellent results have demonstrated the PIT process could be an attractive technique to facilitate the application of high-performance and cost-competitive GaN-on-Si HEMTs for 5G wireless base stations.

In this letter, the AlGaN/GaN/graded-AlGaN:Si-doped/ GaN double channel (GDC-SI) high electronic mobility transistors (HEMTs) with high saturation current density and linearity have been reported for low voltage applications. Compared with the standard AlGaN/GaN/AlGaN/GaN double channel GaN (SDC) HEMTs, the GDC-SI HEMTs exhibited the higher saturation current, the broader and flatter transconductance profile, the lower transconductance ( g _m ) derivatives, and lower on-resistance ( R _on ). Due to the Si-doped graded bottom barrier present in GDC-SI HEMTs, the profile of current gain cutoff frequency ( f _T ) and the maximum oscillation frequency ( f _max ) were flatter with the bias voltage increased. The output power density of 0.75 W/mm and power added efficiency (PAE) of 58% were achieved for GDC-SI HEMTs, at the drain voltage of 7 V and the test frequency of 3.6GHz. The output third-order intercept point (OIP3) of 39.3 dBm and saturation current density of 1909 mA/mm are achieved, which are the state-of-the-art saturation current and OIP3 in the double-channel GaN HEMTs.