High-Performance In0.52Al0.48As/In0.6Ga0.4As Power Metamorphic High Electron Mobility Transistor for Ka-Band Applications

Abstract

A 70 nm In0.52Al0.48As/In0.6Ga0.4As power metamorphic high electron mobility transistor (MHEMT) with a double δ-doping structure was fabricated and evaluated. The device has a high transconductance of 827 mS/mm. The saturated drain-source current of the device is 890 mA/mm. A current gain cutoff frequency ( fT) of 200 GHz and a maximum oscillation frequency ( fmax) of 300 GHz were achieved owing to the nanometer gate length and high indium content in the channel. When measured at 32 GHz, the 0.07×160 µm2 device demonstrates a maximum output power of 14.5 dBm (176 mW/mm) and a P1 dB of 11.1 dBm (80 mW/mm) with a 9.5 dB power gain. The excellent DC and RF performance of the 70 nm MHEMT are comparable to those of InP-based HEMTs and show the great potential for Ka-band power applications.