InAs-Channel High-Electron-Mobility Transistors for Ultralow-Power Low Noise Amplifier Applications

Abstract

An InAs-channel high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) with an 80 nm gate length for ultralow-power low-noise amplifier (LNA) applications has been fabricated and characterized on a 2-in. InP substrate. Small-signal S-parameter measurements performed on the InAs-channel HEMT at a low drain-source voltage of 0.2 V exhibited an excellent f(T) of 120 GHz and an f(max) of 157 GHz. At an extremely low level of dc power consumption of 1.2 mW, the device demonstrated an associated gain of 9.7 dB with a noise figure of less than 0.8 dB at 12 GHz. Such a device also demonstrated a higher associated gain and a lower noise figure than other InGaAs-channel HEMTs at extremely low dc power consumption. These results indicate the outstanding potential of InAs-channel HEMT technology for ultralow-power space-based radar, mobile millimeter-wave communications and handheld imager applications. (c) 2009 The Japan Society of Applied Physics