Impact of Channel Thickness on the Large-Signal Performance in InAlGaN/AlN/GaN HEMTs With an AlGaN Back Barrier

The impact of varying the GaN channel layer thickness (t
_ch
) in InAlGaN/AlN/GaN HEMTs with C-doped AlGaN back barriers is investigated. t
_ch
was 50, 100, and 150 nm, and the gate length of the fabricated HEMTs ranged from 50 to 200 nm. It is found that short-channel effects (SCEs) are significantly mitigated with a small t
_ch
. For HEMTs with a gate length of 50 nm, the drain-induced barrier lowering changes from 40 to 93 mV/V as t
_ch
is increased from 50 to 150 nm. On the other hand, it is shown that dispersive effects are more severe for a smaller t
_ch
, as demonstrated by a sixfold increase in the dynamic ON-resistance for t
_ch
= 50 nm compared to t
_ch
= 150 nm. The tradeoff between dispersion and SCEs is reflected in large-signal measurements at 30 GHz. The 50-nm channel, mainly limited by dispersion, exhibits an output power of 3.5 W/mm. The thicker channels reach a maximum of around 5 W/mm, but for different gate lengths due to the difference in severity of the SCEs. This paper elucidates the interplay between SCEs and dispersion related to t
_ch
, its consequences for the large-signal performance and for the limitation in downscaling of the gate length.