Gallium Nitride (GaN) High-Electron-Mobility Transistors with Thick Copper Metallization Featuring a Power Density of 8.2 W/mm for Ka-Band Applications

Y.  C. Lin; S.  H. Chen; P.  H. Lee; K.  H. Lai; T.  J. Huang; Edward  Y. Chang; Heng-Tung Hsu

doi:10.3390/mi11020222

Micromachines (Feb 2020)

Gallium Nitride (GaN) High-Electron-Mobility Transistors with Thick Copper Metallization Featuring a Power Density of 8.2 W/mm for Ka-Band Applications

Y. C. Lin,
S. H. Chen,
P. H. Lee,
K. H. Lai,
T. J. Huang,
Edward Y. Chang,
Heng-Tung Hsu

Affiliations

Y. C. Lin: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan
S. H. Chen: Department of Electronics Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan
P. H. Lee: Department of Electronics Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan
K. H. Lai: Department of Electronics Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan
T. J. Huang: International College of Semiconductor Technology, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan
Edward Y. Chang: International College of Semiconductor Technology, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan
Heng-Tung Hsu: International College of Semiconductor Technology, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/mi11020222
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 11, no. 2
p. 222

Abstract

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Copper-metallized gallium nitride (GaN) high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) using a Ti/Pt/Ti diffusion barrier layer are fabricated and characterized for Ka-band applications. With a thick copper metallization layer of 6.8 μm adopted, the device exhibited a high output power density of 8.2 W/mm and a power-added efficiency (PAE) of 26% at 38 GHz. Such superior performance is mainly attributed to the substantial reduction of the source and drain resistance of the device. In addition to improvement in the Radio Frequency (RF) performance, the successful integration of the thick copper metallization in the device technology further reduces the manufacturing cost, making it extremely promising for future fifth-generation mobile communication system applications at millimeter-wave frequencies.

Published in Micromachines

ISSN: 2072-666X (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Technology: Mechanical engineering and machinery
Website: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/micromachines

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