Polarization-doped field effect transistors (POLFETS) and materials and methods for making the same

Abstract

Novel GaN/AlGaN metal-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MESFET) structures grown without any impurity doping in the channel. A high-mobility polarization-induced bulk channel charge is created by grading the channel region linearly from GaN to Al0.3Ga0.7N over a distance, e.g., 1000 Å. A polarization-doped field effect transistor (PolFET) was fabricated and tested under DC and RF conditions. A current density of 850 mA/mm and transconductance of 93 mS/mm was observed under DC conditions. Small-signal characterization of 0.7 μm gate length devices had a cutoff frequency, ƒτ=19 GHz, and a maximum oscillation of ƒmax=46 GHz. The PolFETs perform better than comparable MESFETs with impurity-doped channels, and are suitable for high microwave power applications. An important advantage of these devices over AlGaN/GaN HEMTs is that the transconductance vs. gate voltage profile can be tailored by compositional grading for better large-signal linearity.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.