Improved Electrical Measurement Techniques For The Characterization Of Microwave Field Effect Transistors

Abstract

Improved methods are presented for the measurement and characterization of gallium arsenide (GaAs) microwave field effect transistors (FETs). An improved test fixture is discussed that is easier to use and more accurate than previous fixtures. A technique is presented that enables calibration at the input and output of the device under test (DUT) rather than the fixture connectors. A lumped element equivalent circuit model of the FET is used to predict electrical characteristics, amplifier gain, and minimum noise figure at higher-than-measurement frequencies and to obtain an improved physical understanding of the FET operation.