Numerical study of terahertz radiation from N-polar AlGaN/GaN HEMT under asymmetric boundaries

Abstract

Abstract In this paper, we have studied the electrical excitation of plasma-wave in N-polar AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMT) under asymmetric boundaries leads to terahertz emission. Numerical calculations are conducted through the simultaneous solution of Maxwell’s equations and the self-consistent hydrodynamic model. By employing this method, we solved the plasma-wave model in the channel of an N-polar AlGaN/GaN HEMT. We estimate that, under ideal boundary conditions and with sufficient channel mobility, these devices could generate milliwatts of power. The effects of different GaN channel layer thickness, carrier concentration, gate length and channel carrier velocity on plasma wave oscillation and terahertz radiation in N-polar AlGaN/GaN HEMT are considered. These simulation results based on Dyakonov–Shur instability provide guidance for the future design of high-radiation-power on-chip terahertz sources based on N-polar AlGaN/GaN HEMTs. Graphical Abstract

Keywords

• N-polar GaN HEMT
• Terahertz emission
• Dyakonov–Shur instability