Development of 100 nm gate AlGaN/GaN HEMT and MMIC technology suitable for mm-wave applications

In this paper a Gallium Nitride MMIC technology for RF- and microwave and high power amplifiers based on 100 nm gate technology is presented. The MMIC technology includes alloyed ohmic contacts, T-shaped 100 nm gates, air-bridges, MIM capacitors, inductors, and a full through wafer viahole backside process. As a key element for a high MMIC yield, we'll present low ohmic contact resistances with a high yield on several wafers in different processing batches and low leakage currents for a reliable device performance, respectively. Single HEMT performance exhibits PAE values of up to 60 % and power densities of 1.3 W/mm. For a single stage power amplifier with a WG = 4×45 µm dual-gate HEMT configuration, a gain beyond 10 dB at 60 GHz is presented. By using only one transistor for the amplifier stage, a maximum output power of more than 21 dBm and a PAE of 9.3% is achieved