Degradation effects induced by hot carrier and high channel temperature in pseudomorphic GaAs millimeter wave power HEMT's

Degradation effects by hot carrier (HCID) and high channel temperature (HCT) are investigated for millimeter wave power HEMT's with a gate length of 0.1 /spl mu/m and 0.15 /spl mu/m. While both HCID and HCT induce drain current reduction, they post distinct failure mechanisms. Our hypothesis is that carrier density reduction under the gate contact which results in I/sub ds/ decrease might account for HCID and gate metal sinking is caused by HCT.