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GaAs HEMT
GaAs HEMT
Rosa Lahiji
EECS521 winter 2003
Abstract- Capacitive modulation of the charge HEMT, also called Modulation Doped
in the conductive channel is the basic principle Field Effect Transistor (MODFET) has
of all the FET devices. Applying this concept to attained a serious interest during late 70’s,
different geometries and using different material when it has been demonstrated that high
and doping profiles would result the variety of mobility can be achieved using hetero-
the FET transistors. In each type of FET the junctions. In this report the principles of the
confinement of the channel charge and the
isolation between the gate and channel, would
Field Effect Transistor as a basic element for
result a novel device with specific properties. demonstrating the operational concepts will
High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT) as a be described generally. Then the idea of
member of this family is studied in this report. MODFET on GaAs and its characteristics
The basic of operation, modeling the 2DEG, will be discussed.
DC, high frequency and Noise models, The properties of the AlGaAs/GaAs
fabrication and application of the HEMT, and interface and the growth and fabrication
specifically AlGaAs/GaAs HEMT is reviewed. techniques are reviewed. Then the
A preliminary design of a single channel HEMT approaches toward modeling the 2D
is investigated and the dependence of its Electron Gas (2DEG) concentration in a
properties on several parameter such as doping, single channel HEMT will be described.
composition and geometrical dimensions is
studied.
Modeling the DC and high frequency of a
single channel HEMT structure is
Key Words- FET, HEMT, MODFET, 2DEG introduced, along with a brief study of the
noise sources of the MODFET structure. A
I. Introduction quick review on the design approaches and
some of the application of HEMT structure
Since the invention of the transistor, and the state of art characteristics guide us
there has been a great deal of activities and toward a preliminary design of a
progresses in the semiconductor theory and AlGaAs/GaAs HEMT. Then the effect of
technology. Different varieties of devices the different parameters such as doping,
and material have been investigated. Among thickness, material and composition has
these semiconductor materials, the been investigated.
compound semiconductor showed very
attractive electrical and optical
characteristics. Hetero-structure devices II. Principles of FET
that include HEMT are a product of this
Technology. The concept of the operation of many
GaAs-based high electron mobility electronic devices lay upon the modulation
transistors (HEMTs) are rapidly replacing of either the current flowing through the
the conventional MESFET technology in device or the voltage at the output terminal.
military and commercial application In the case of a field effect transistor,
requiring low noise figures and high gain (Fig.1), the current flowing between two
particularly at millimeter and microwave terminals (Source and Drain) is controlled
frequencies. by the voltage applied to the third terminal,
the Gate. The contact of the source and
drain metal is ohmic, while the gate- Depletion Region
semiconductor junction should have a
Source Gate Drain
Schottkey barrier with rectifying
characteristics. Also since the electron
n+ n+
mobility is much larger than the hole, the n-
channel devices are normally considered. At
N-type Channel
zero bias there could be a depletion of
electrons within a depth in the channel, Semi-insulating Substrate
which is related to different parameters such
as the gate material and the interface
properties. The current flows from source to Fig.1 The schematic of a Field Effect transistor.
drain through the channel. The resistance of
the channel (e.g. the available path for the
current) is controlled by the width of
depletion region, through the gate voltage.
Now by applying a voltage on the gate
electrode (Vg) the depth of the depletion
region, and therefore the conductive portion (a)
of the channel would vary. With Vg<0, the
depletion region would further grow in to
the channel, while narrowing the path for the
electrons to flow and therefore increasing
the resistance of the channel. The voltage, at
(b)
which the whole channel is depleted, is
referred to as the pinch-off voltage (Vp).
Applying a positive voltage to the drain
would attract and collect the electrons to
form the conduction current. By increasing
the drain voltage, the electric field across the (c)
channel would increase, and so would the
velocity of the electrons. The voltage
distribution across the channel would cause
the difference between the gate electrode
and the channel voltage along the channel (d)
length. This would result the different depth Fig.2 The I-V characteristic of a FET, as Vds
of the depletion region along the channel, increases.
which would increase toward the drain, as voltage generates an electric field across the
shown in Fig.1. Further increasing the drain depletion region, which would guarantee the
voltage would cause the channel pinch-off continuity of the current. Although
and the channel to be a resistive pass for the increasing the gate voltage would decrease
current. Increasing the Vds beyond this the depth of the depletion region in to the
voltage won’t change the current much, channel. This would reduce the resistance of
since the pinch-off point would move the channel, and so the better capabilities of
toward the source and the voltage would current derive. Fig.2.
drop across the depletion region. This
III. High Electron Mobility Transistor both the saturation velocity and the mobility
are maximized.
A. Principle Also in this structure a semi-insulating
In each type of FET the confinement of material is used as a substrate in order to
the channel charge and the isolation between have isolation between the adjacent devices.
the gate and channel, would result a novel
device with specific properties.
In a Heterostructure Field Effect
Transistor (HFET), a wide band gap
semiconductor separates the gate electrode
from the active channel.
A High Electron Mobility Transistor
(HEMT) as a HFET device consists of
several layers of compound semiconductor
as shown in Fig.3.
An active channel is formed at the Fig.3 Schematic of a heterostructure FET.
interface of the buffer layer of GaAs and the
doped, wide band gap material, such as
AlGaAs. The donor layer of n-AlGaAs
supplies the electrons for the channel
conduction. These free electrons are allowed
to move in the lattice and will fall in the
lowest energy state, which is available at the
GaAs side of the hetero-junction. The
thickness of this layer is about 100A, which
is much smaller then Broglie wavelength of
the electrons. Therefore the electrons are
quantized in a 2D system at the interface of Fig.4 The energy band diagram of doped AlGaAs
the hetero-junction, known as 2D Electron (wide band gap), GaAs (small band gap) and their
Gas (2DEG) Fig.4. This separation of the heterostructure and the formation of 2DEG.
electrons from the ionized donor impurities
would result less impurity scattering and
therefore higher mobility and effective
velocity of electrons for a certain electric B. Hetero-junction characteristics
field. This sheet of high electron mobility When a semiconductor is epitaxially
can be served as the channel of a FET, and deposited on another semiconductor with the
can be modulated through the gate voltage. same orientation but different physical
Usually there is an un-doped spacer layer property, the atoms of the both sides of the
with the thickness of 20-60A, in between the interface adjust themselves during the
buffer and the donor layer. The presence of interface formation.
such a layer would reduce the Columbic In order to produce a high quality
scattering caused by the electrical hetero-junction some physical parameters
interaction between the electrons and the such as the elastic constant, thermal
donors by further separating them. The expansion and lattice parameter have to be
thickness of this layer is set in a way that considered. To prevent the misfit
dislocations at the interface, the lattice
matching should be achieved by proper devices. GaAs is also the material of choice
selecting the composition of the material. for lasers and LEDs. The broad range of
Also the ability of the reproducing such a opto-electronic applications includes lasers
growth process should be considered. for fiber optic communications, optical
As the strength of the interfacial bonding storage, solid state laser pumping, compact
increases, the epitaxial deposit would be discs, and indicators in appliances,
strained homogeneously, or Pseudomorphic. automobiles, traffic signals and commercial
This structure has its unique properties, for displays.
better carrier transport in channel, which is
outside the topic of this report.
One of the most widely used and best- D. Modeling
understood compound materials is the
Al xGa1− x As / GaAs hetero-structure, which In order to find proper models for the
for all the composition factors between 0 device, the distribution of the charge must
and 1 has a perfect lattice match as shown in be derived for the conducting channel. The
Fig.4. donor doping, composition factor, thickness
Al xGa1− x As / GaAs has a Zincblende of the donor region, as well as the
background doping in the channel would
crystal structure and its characteristics can determine this distribution.
be derived based on the composition factor
x, from the table below. In the linear region the DC model’s
drain current is described by a square law,
C. GaAs properties and applications while in saturation region the drain current
is proportional to the HEMT’s 2DEG
GaAs is a compound material of the III-
density n s . This parameter can be calculated
V group, with the energy band gap of
1.424ev at 300K, and the Zincblende crystal or modeled in different ways, which few of
structure with the lattice constant of them are mentioned here.
5.65325A. With a self-consistent 1D quantum
While most compounds lack the good mechanical solution of the Poisson and
native oxide as Silicon does (SiO2), but Schrodinger equations, the band
having certain properties distinguished them configuration, and the charge distribution is
as a perfect material for the microwave and determined.
millimeter-wave monolithic integrated ε .(V g − Vth )
ns =
circuits as in high speed digital circuits. q(d d + d i + ∆d )
Most of the compound materials such Which ∆d is the effective thickness of the
as GaAs, are direct band gap, which results 2DEG sheet charge. Solving for the free
in superior opto-electronic properties, higher electron concentration through the poisons
low-field mobility characteristics, hence, and Schrodinger equation would result:
less parasitic resistances and higher peak
velocity that leads to a higher speed device E f − En
4πk bTme*
and operating frequencies. In spite of its ne =
h2
.∑ n
ξ 2
n l ln(1 + exp
kT
)
higher cost, relative to silicon, GaAs is the
preferred material for monolithic microwave
integrated circuits (MMICs). GaAs epi- Replacing this value in the Poisson’s
wafers are used in cellular phones, satellites, ∂ 2V qρ f
equation ( 2 − = 0 ) would result the
radar systems and various electronic ∂z ε
potential distribution. Knowing the Increasingly precise film thickness was
potential, the other parameters can be required for ever-faster processors. To meet
calculated. This is a general method of these needs, A.Y. Cho perfected molecular
solution for HEMTs, while in literature beam epitaxy, a UHV technique that could
different approaches are mentioned which produce single-crystal growth one atomic
some of them are numerically fitted to the layer at a time.
observations. Here are some other The MBE process frees molecules of an
approaches an example: element by heating it in an effusion cell, or
cVt oven. Some of these molecules would
n s (Vt ) = 2 3 escape into a chamber with a vacuum so
1 + aVt + bVt
intense that the freed molecules were drawn
Which a, b, and c are constants and Vt is into a linear "beam". A wafer is mounted in
normally the gate potential V g , but restricted the center of this beam and the freed
molecules could then be deposited one layer
to the maximum value of VSO = 3 2 b .
at a time directly on top each other.
In another model for small drain
currents, Weiler and Ayasli (1984) have F. Noise in MODFETs
proposed a numerical model for the I-V
characteristic of an intrinsic MODFET, as The MODFET/HEMT structure has
shown in Fig. Which is especially defined proved to have less noise devices, although
for microwave application. In this numerical they are not noise free. In order to be able to
model the saturation channel charge is given model the noise of a device, the noise
by: sources should be recognized. In a
Lg
Qss (VG ) = eZ ∫ N s ( z )dz MODFET four main noise sources are
0
recognized: 1. Johnson/Thermal noise due to
Where Z and L g are the width and length of
the Ohmic region of the channel (vd21 ) . 2.
the gate metal, and N s ( z ) is the 2DEG Noise associated with the spontaneous
density as a function of the position along generation of dipole layers in the saturation
the channel. Using the saturation current region, also called diffusion noise (vd22 ) . 3.
SAT
I DS (VG ) at the maximum gate voltage Gate noise due to the elementary voltage
VG ,max and at VG ,max − ∆V , Transconductance fluctuation in the channel (i g21 ) . 4. Induced
and gate capacitance can be computed as: gate noise in the saturation region (i g22 ) . Of
SAT
I DS (VG ,max ) − I DS
SAT
(VG ,max − ∆V )
gm = course these noise sources are correlated,
∆V which the correlation coefficients are given
Qss (VG ,max ) − Qss (VG ,max − ∆V ) in different texts. By defining the noise
C gs = representative sources, the noise figure of
∆V
The ∆V = 0.1v was used for this numerical the device can be calculated.
method.
G. Al xGa1− x As / GaAs HEMT Application
E. Fabrication
As mentioned before there are different
Research into epitaxy continued to be applications of HEMT devices, in analog,
fueled as demand grew for multilayer digital, low noise and low power circuits, as
semiconductors and semi-insulators. well as in microwave and millimeter wave
application. But as discussed before and
observed in the text, the use of multi-
channel HEMT, Pseudomorphic and quasi-
Pseudomorphic devices are generalized to a
great extent. As an application of a single
channel HEMT with a good noise figure the
following structure has been proposed, and
fabricated.
A low noise AlGaAs/GaAs HEMT with
0.1µm gate length and a T-shape gate
structure has been successfully developed.
This device had the noise figure of 0.51dB
and 1.9dB at 18GHz and 40GHz
respectively, and at the room temperature.
The gain of 10.8dB at 18GHz and 5.3dB at
40GHz has been reported. Table.1 below Fig.6 The noise figure and the gain of the
shows the specification of the device. HEMT vs. the gate resistance.
Parameter Value
Lg 0.1µm
GaAs buffer layer thickness 0.1µm
x 0.3
n − Al x Ga1− x As Thickness 100°A
n − Al x Ga1− x As Doping 2.5 × 1018 / cm 3
n − GaAs Cap thickness 300°A
n − GaAs Doping 4 × 10 18 / cm 3
Mesa etch 0.3µm
S/D separation 3µm
Gate width 200µm
Fig.7 The noise figure and the gain of the
HEMT vs. the drain voltage.
The cross section of the HEMT is shown
in theFig.5. The test fixture has been biased
at the drain voltage of 3v, and the drain
current of 10mA. The gain and noise figure
vs. the gate resistance, gate voltage and
frequency is plotted as shown in Fig.6, 7,
and 8 respectively.