Enhanced Breakdown and RF Performance in Field-Plated AlGaN/GaN HEMT for High-Power Applications

High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMTs) are most suitable for harsh environments as they operate reliably under extreme conditions such as high voltages, high temperatures, radiation exposure and corrosive atmospheres. In this article, gate field-plated engineering Al0.295GaN/GaN HEMT is proposed for achieving high breakdown voltage to reliably operate in harsh environments. The Al0.295GaN/GaN heterointerface results in a 2DEG (two-dimensional electron gas) density of the order of 1013 cm-2 obtained from the self-consistent solution of Schrödinger and Poisson equations. The device has undergone DC and breakdown simulations which result in threshold voltage of -5.5 V, drain saturation current of 3000 mA, and breakdown voltage of 1 kV. The HEMT also shows excellent RF characteristics which include cut-off frequency (ft) of 28 GHz and maximum frequency of oscillation (fmax) of 38 GHz. The proposed gate field-plated HEMT is stable up to 40 GHz and suitable for high-voltage and high-power RF operation during harsh environment applications.