9
Al(In)GaN-Based,
High-Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMTs) on SiC for High-Power Radar
Applications--SVT
Associates, 7620 Executive Drive, Eden Prairie, MN
55344-3677; 952-934-2100, www.svta.com
Dr.
Amir Dabiran, Principal Investigator,
Ms.
Janes Marks, Business Official,
DOE
Grant No. DE-FG02-03ER83790
Amount:
$99,997
Substantial
improvements in high-power performance are predicted for high-frequency
Al(In)GaN-based HEMTs on SiC substrates, which are components of Synthetic
Aperture Radar systems used in national security applications.
The two main issues are the growth of high-quality, insulating GaN buffer
layers and the formation of hyper-abrupt Al(In)GaN/(In)GaN interfaces.
This project will fabricate Al(In)GaN/(In)GaN high-power transistors on
highly resistive GaN layers on SiC substrates, using a Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE)
technique. Phase I will optimize the
MBE growth of Al(In)GaN/(In)GaN heterostructures on SiC substrates and develop
microelectronics processes for the fabrication of high-power, AlInGaN-based
HEMTs. Expected device parameters
include: current density greater
than 1.2A/mm, extrinsic transconductance values greater than 400 mS/mm, fT
greater than 200 GHz, and power density greater than 8 W/mm at 40 GHz.
Commercial Applications and Other
Benefits
as described by awardee: Improved
AlInGaN-based power HEMTs should have numerous civilian and defense applications
including radar tracking, cellular base stations, telemetry, and satellite
communications.