Improved microwave noise performance in 0.15µm AlGaN/AlN/GaN HEMTs on Silicon

High-frequency microwave noise performances (2 GHz to 19 GHz) were investigated on AlGaN/AlN/GaN High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMTs) with 0.15 μm T-gate fabricated on high resistivity 4-inch Silicon. The HEMTs exhibited maximum drain current density (I
_Dmax
) of 830 mA/mm, maximum extrinsic transconductance (g
_mmax
) of 353 mS/mm, unity current cut-off frequency (f
_T
) of 65 GHz and maximum oscillation frequency (f
_max
) of 125 GHz. At V
_DS
=6V and I
_D
=188mA/mm, the devices exhibited a minimum noise figure (NF
_min
) of 0.59 dB at 10 GHz and 1.5 dB at 18 GHz. The NF
_min
for 10 GHz is the lowest reported value in the literatures for conventional AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on Si substrate. No significant change in microwave noise performance has been observed in the devices over for a wide range of I
_D
(22 mA/mm to 500mA/mm) and V
_D
(3V to 16V).