Correlation between high frequency power characteristics and current collapse in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs

High frequency power characteristics of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs with a gate field plate (FP) were studied using on-wafer load-pull measurements and were correlated with the results of current collapse measurements. The load-pull results at 2 GHz indicated that the use of gate-FP was effective to significantly increase the saturated output power level as compared to the similar results conducted for a standard device without FP. The results demonstrate a clear correlation with the results of current collapse measurements, in which the dynamic on-resistance for the standard HEMT was dramatically improved by introducing a gate- FP to a 2-μm gate-length HEMT device.