Strain engineered In/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/As channel pHEMTs on virtual substrates: a simulation study

The impact of In/sub x/Al/sub 1-x/As strain control buffers on the performance of low In content InGaAs channel pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor p(HEMT) is investigated. It is shown that relaxed and tensile strained channel devices outperform the conventional compressively strained channel devices. It is argued that strain engineering in GaAs based devices makes it possible to realise RF characteristics comparable to InP based pHEMTs while obtaining improved breakdown characteristics.