Investigation of DC and RF Characteristics of AlGaN/GaN HEMT With Various Planar Distributed Channel Division

We use a standard ion implantation process to fabricate planar distributed channel AlGaN/GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) on silicon. The process to achieve minimum 2-
$\mu $
m microchannel structure is compatible with standard ion implantation for device isolation and suitable for mass production. The 2-
$\mu $
m microchannel device shows significant improvements in thermal control and dc performance without an increase in the process complexity. The simulation and experimental results show that the smaller the channel division is, the lower the channel temperature and the smaller the saturated current decrease are due to less self-heating effect. Compared to conventional devices, devices with 2-
$\mu $
m microchannel show a
$30~^{\circ }$
C decreased channel temperature and a 10% increased output current. If the microchannel width is further reduced, the extra parasitic gate capacitance increases rapidly, which may limit high-frequency applications.