Modeling and characterization of an 80 V silicon LDMOSFET for emerging RFIC applications

This paper describes the design and optimization of an 80 V silicon RF LDMOSFET used in a power amplifier for base station applications. The transistor was prototyped using the doping profiles extracted from an experimental device and extensive two-dimensional (2-D) simulations were performed to characterize the DC and RF performance of the device. A good match between the measured and simulated data is reported. A simple circuit model was developed which accurately predicts the DC and RF characteristics in circuit simulators. It is shown through 2-D simulations that the LDD region in the LDMOSFET can be modeled as a JFET. A methodology for the accurate extraction of model parameters for the circuit model is discussed. It is shown that the DC and RF performances of the circuit model closely match the measured data. Advanced mixed device and circuit simulations were used to obtain S-parameters of the device which provide new insights into device physics and also the basis for statistical process control studies.