Evaluating substrate's effect on RF switch performance via Verilog-A GaN HEMT model

Abstract

Fabrication and RF characterization of GaN HEMT on silicon and sapphire substrate are done, and henceforth, forming a Verilog-A model by experimental results obtained from RF characterization of GaN HEMT. This model is implemented for designing of RF switch in Cadence's spectre, to evaluate the substrate effects on RF switch performance. The variation in isolation, insertion loss, and return loss for a frequency range of 2.5GHz is found as 15dB/10dB, 3dB/2.2dB, and 0.7dB/0.4dB for silicon/sapphire substrate, respectively.