0.3 µm Gate length super low noise GaAs MESFET

The device technology and RF characteristics of a super low noise GaAs MESFET exhibiting a noise figure of as low as 1.2dB at 12GHz will be presented. The major technologies utilized in this work are the formation of a 0.3µm gate using conventional deepUV/positive photoresist technology, a triple layer epitaxial system using Ga/AsCl
3
/H
2
and a multi layer passivation scheme utilizing SiO
2
and Si
3
N
4
films. The noise figure of the device ranges from 0.3-0.5dB with 15dB associated gain at 4GHz and 1.2 -1.5dB with 10dB associated gain at 12GHz. The device gate width is 280
\micro
m and the 1dB compression point is as high as 17 dBm. Clearly this device is capable of surviving high levels of incident RF power.