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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRON DEVICES, VOL. 42, NO.

8, AUGUST 1995

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High Efficiency Microwave Power AlGaAsDnGaAs PHEMTs Fabricated by Dry Etch Single Gate Recess
C. S. Wu, Senior Member, IEEE, F . Ren, Senior Member, IEEE, S. J . Pearton, Senior Member, IEEE, M . Hu, C. K. Pao, Member, IEEE, and R. F. Wang

Abstract-An optimized pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor (PHEMT) epitaxial structure processed with a novel single gate recess technique is shown to achieve 850 mW of output power (760 mW . mm-l saturated power density) with 50% power added efficiency at X-band when operated at a CW and nearly class A condition. The multi-finger devices (14 x 80 pm) retain high extrinsic transconductances (380-420 mS . mm-I), with exceptional breakdown voltage (>U V). The combination of optimized epi layer structure design and uniform gate recess using a damage-free,etch-stop, dry plasma processing step produces consistently and uniformly high f~ values (80 GHz at VDS= 1 V, 35 GHz at VDS= 7 V) even at low I D S (100 mA . mm-l).

I.

INTRODUCTION

array thermal loading and reduced prime power requirements. Shanfield et al. [6] reported 0.97 W output power with 10 dB gain and 70% power-added efficiency (PAE) at 10 GHz and the same power with 6.8 dB gain and 48% PAE at 18 GHz from a PHEMT. In this paper we report an optimized epitaxial layer design and dry etch gate recess process which produces high output power while retaining good dc and RF performance for PHEMTs. The uniformity of device performance is much improved for dry etched wafers relative to wet chemically etched devices due to the high selectivity for removing the GaAs cap layer from the underlying AlGaAs Schottky contact layer. 11. EXPERIMENTAL The device epitaxial layer structure grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy is designed with a fully depleted GaAs cap layer, and is shown in Table I. While fully depleted caps have been shown to lead to a fall-off of f~ at high drain-source [I], voltages (VDS) it is necessary to achieve a high breakdown A voltage (VBD). double-sided planar doping approach was employed to provide sufficient charge to the InGaAs channel. The double-sided atomic delta-doped layers provided a sheet charge density of 3 x 1012cm-2 and 300 K electron 5500 cm2 V- . s-l. To achieve a high mobility of breakdown voltage we used an undoped AlGaAs Schottky contact layer for reduced tunneling current. A conducting GaAs cap layer leads to low VBDbecause of electric field crowding on the drain side adjacent to the gate fingers. An alternative approach to achieving high breakdown voltage is to use a double gate recess, but this requires two gate lithography steps and two etch steps. We have previously found that double-sided doped devices have slightly higher noise figures than conventional single-sided structures [I], but exhibit superior uniformity, power, and yield because of the higher sheet charge and lower sensitivity to variations in gate recess depth. Implant isolation using multiple energy O+ ions was used to define the active device area. Ohmic contacts of NiJAuGelAglAu were deposited by e-beam evaporation and patterned by conventional lift-off processing [ 111. Prior to metal deposition the wafers were cleaned by 0 2 plasma exposure in a barrel reactor and NH~OH:HPO rinsing to ensure smooth contact edges and definition and lack of spiking due to the presence of residual native oxide on the GaAs surface. This cleaning procedure allows use of a wide op-

ECENTLY, pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistors (PHEMTs) have demonstrated superior performance at microwave and millimeter wave frequency ranges [1]-[lo]. Due to a broad spectrum of applications and an increasing interest in systems insertion, the demand for large quantities of PHEMT devices is increasing. The development of a PHEMT manufacturing technology is therefore of prime interest to meet this demand from advanced microwave and millimeter wave systems. To achieve a high yield and high performance technology, there are two important areas which must be optimized; one is the device epitaxial structure and the other is the processing [l], [2]. The high linearity of PHEMTs produces low output distortion, low harmonic levels, and intermodulation distortion and high saturated output power, all of which are particularly important for C-band and Ku-band applications. For microwave frequencies, GaAs MESFETs are wellestablished but PHEMTs may replace them in some applications since they are capable of identical or greater output power with higher gain and efficiency. How quickly this occur will be determined by how quickly PHEMT manufacturing technology matures to the point that large gate width devices can be made with acceptable yield. There is a high degree of motivation for development of power PHEMTs for lower frequency applications such as phase array radar to alleviate
Manuscript received June 9, 1994; revised January 13, 1995. The review of this paper was arranged by Associate Editor P. M. Solomon. C. S. Wu, M. Hu, C. K. Pao, and R. F. Wang are with Hughes Aircraft Company, GaAs Operations, Microelectronics Division, Torrance, CA 90509 USA. F. Ren is with AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ 07974 USA. S.J. Pearton is with the University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 3261 1 USA. IEEE Log Number 9412474.

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0018-9383/95$04.00 0 1995 IEEE

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRON DEVICES, VOL. 42, NO. 8, AUGUST 1995

near-surface of semiconductors. The first is alteration of the stoichiometry, for example, by preferential loss of one of the lattice elements or deposition of etch-related residues on the surface, i.e., formation of AlF3 on AlGaAs exposed to CClzF2 or BC13/SF6 discharges. Indeed, the latter is the etch stop mechanism for selective removal of GaAs from AlGaAs using these plasma chemistries [ 141. Under our conditions this selectivity is >600: 1. Auger Electron Spectrometry showed the exposed AlGaAs surface was composed of a thin (- 25 A) mixture of native oxide and AlF3, and the AlGaAs beneath this region was stoichiometric. A simple post-etch clean in an 0 2 barrel reactor, NH40H:H20 solution and finally H20 rinsing completely removed the fluorine-related residues, and left a clean stoichiometric surface for TiRAu gate metal deposition by e-beam evaporation [ 151. The other mechanism by which the AlGaAs may be disrupted is by direct implantation of ions such as C+, from the plasma. A Transport of Ions in Matter (TRIM) calculation [ 161 of the projected range and longitudinal and lateral straggles of implanted C+ ions is shown in Fig. 1. Note that these values are only a few As, and a calculated implanted C+ ion profile is given in Fig. 2. The heavier chlorine, fluorine, or molecular ions implanted into the surface will have even 25 eV, none shallower profiles. For ion energies below 50 100 of the energy is lost to vacancy production, only to ionizing TARGET DEPTH (A) electrons and phonon production. Channeling of the implanted ions can increase the penetration depth, but there is essentially Fig. 1. Calculated projected ion ranges and straggles for low energy C+ ions in GaAs. no defect production at low ion energies. At higher biases (2 -100 V) damage in the form of crystal point defects is created, and leads to a reduction in the near-surface doping timal alloying temperature window (440-54OoC), producing density since these defects usually act as deep level traps a contact resistance of 0.1 0-mm. These contacts show no [13]. The depth of this damage can be greater than that change in resistance over 1000 hrs of stress time at elevated expected from calculations of the ion range and is ascribed temperature. to the creation of defects at the surface which diffuse rapidly E-beam lithography was used to write gate openings of 0.25into the bulk to cause carrier compensation. Finally, atomic 0.3 pm. Gate widths were 1.12 mm, composed of 14 x 80 pm hydrogen may be present in plasmas because of water vapor fingers for each cell. Prior to loading in the dry etch reactor, in the reactor or resist erosion and this can lead to hydrogen the 3"4 wafers were again cleaned in an NH40H:H20 solution passivation in the near-surface region even when hydrogen with mega-sonic agitation in order to aid penetration of this is not a specific part of the plasma chemistry [17]. In the liquid into the small gate openings. It is necessary to remove current work we found that the combination of short etch the GaAs native oxide prior to the dry etch step since remnant time, load-locked reactor chamber, and low ion energies oxide can lead to an incubation time before the actual etching produced damage-free gate recessing. Test samples of nbegins [12]. Since the etch rate for GaAs under our conditions type GaAs cm-3 ) processed by either wet or dry 300 A, etch removal of is 2200 A . min-l, and the etch depth is only 2000 A of material and then cleaned as the time required is small, so uncontrolled incubation times for the PHEMT devices showed identical Schottky barrier are undesirable. In addition, any extension of the etch time heights and ideality factors for e-beam deposited TiPtAu gate can lead to e-beam resist mask erosion and degradation of contacts. the subsequent T-shape gate, or to undercutting of the e-beam After the dry etch gate recess step for PHEMT's, T-shaped resist. e-beam deposited TiPtAu metallization was defined by lift-off Dry etching was performed in either the reactive ion etch or to produce the 0.25 pm gate length device. Plasma-enhanced Electron Cyclotron Resonance etch modes in Plasma Therm chemically vapor deposited SiN, was used for passivation SL 720 or 770 systems. The process pressure was 5 mTorr [18] and was found to produce minimal change in breakdown with CC12F2 flow rate of 25 standard cubic centimeters per voltage and other dc drain I-V characteristics over a broad minute. The RF-induced dc bias at the sample position was range of ammonia flow rates [19]. The Si3N4 thickness was -30 V, which is below the atomic displacement threshold 1000 A, which slightly degrades the device f~ (5%) due to for 111-V semiconductors [ 131. Therefore etching under these increased gate capacitance associated with the presence of the conditions will not create any ion-induced damage. There high dielectric constant material surrounding the gate finger are two other ways in which dry etching can disrupt the region.
TABLE I
EPITAXIAL LAYERSTRU(JTcTRE FOR

P"r

____

WU et al.: HIGH EFFICIENCY MICROWAVE POWER PHEMT'S FABRICATED B Y DRY ETCH SINGLE GATE RECESS

1421

Lm / m* ( Am )
102 eV 1 keV

f3lo-650

8m-950
420-450

>I250
44C-480

ION ENERGY (eV)

( ~ ) ~ ~ ( m S / m m )380-420

Fig. 2. Depth distribution of 20 eV C+ ions implanted into GaAs as determined from a Transport of Ions in Matter (TRIM) simulation. This is a worst-case scenario since it assumes there is no etching of the material, and therefore it applies to the situation of an over-etch of GaAs from an underlying AlGaAs layer which is not volatile in a CC12F2 discharge.

* I, is the PHEMT epi

material's s d o n current which is m e a s e f o W O rm ohmic metal pads with 2 . 5 spacing after ohmic confs~tis formcd. The h ~ includes currentwmpoaentsf o botb n+ GaAs cap and lnGaAS chaoml layers. rm

**
10-2

10-5
h

s l n
10-10

1 V,

is approximately t e full channel c w n t of PHEMT devices measured at h


= +0.7 V.

n = 1.31
0B= 0.86 eV

10-14

0.00

0.150
vGS

1.500

(v)

Fig. 3. Forward I-V characteristic from a dry-etched gate recessed power PHEMT device.

111. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Table I1 shows a comparison of Schottky gate characteristics between dry etched and wet etched gate recessed PHEMT's. The superior performance of the dry etched devices is due to the superior profile control and higher selectivity for removal of the GaAs cap layer from the AlGaAs layer underneath. The forward I-V characteristics from a dry-etched device are shown in Fig. 3. The values of 4~ and n for wetetched (NH40H:HzOz:HzO solution) devices are skewed by the presence of more significant low voltage leakage current in these PHEMT's. This may be due to the presence of residual GaAs at the interface which is not removed by wet etching. This leakage alters the slope of the I-V curve and leads to lower apparent 4~ and higher n values. We do not mean to imply that the listed values in Table I1 are anything other than strong evidence of the superiority of the dry gate recess

process. The uniformity of IDSS(saturation drain current at VGSof 0 V) and pinch-off voltage were typically f 7 % for dry etched 3"d wafers whereas wet etched double gate recess wafers have 5 2 0 % variation in these parameters. Typical dry recess profiles have been shown previously. [12] The amount of undercut can be controlled by the etch duration and pressure. Fig. 4 shows typical I D - VDScharacteristics for a 14 finger power PHEMT. The breakdown voltage ( B V D S ) for these devices is in the range 18-20 V, with extrinsic transconductances of 380-420 mS . mm-' . The breakdown is defined as the voltage at which there is a sharp increase in 10s. Table 111 shows a comparison of the dc performance of the PHEMT's optimized for high breakdown voltage in this work (first column) with the performance of PHEMT's with epi structures designed for various low-noise and millimeter power applications (second and third columns). Note that the dc performance of the power PHEMT's is not compromised much relative to the other classes of devices. This is of particular importance for multi-functional PHEMT devices and monolithic microwave integrated circuit products, in which one may require good power and noise performance. The S-parameters of the PHEMT devices were measured using an HP 8510 vector network analyzer. The calibration was completed with impedance standards from Cascade Microtech. The measured data were used to calculate H21 and maximum available gain (MAG) or maximum stable gain (MSG), and both f~ and fMAX were estimated by extrapolation of the measurement to 40 GHz. Fig. 5 shows f~ as a function of VDSfor a gate voltage of -0.8 V and low IDS of 100

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRON DEVICES, VOL. 42, NO. 8, AUGUST 1995

Freq (GHz)
0

4
VDS

10

Fig. 6. Maximum available gain as a function of frequency for a power PHEMT at different gate voltages.

Fig. 4. I D - VDS characteristic for a 0.25 p m gate length, 1.12 mm gate width power PHEMT.

$
0
60

20

0
0 0

2
B

$
0
0 -

"
-

: :
15-

Vm=5V

vGs=4.8v
-

10

'

'

'

'

'

-vGs

(V)

4
vp.

VDS (v)

Fig. 7. Maximum available gain at 10 GHz as a function at gate voltage for a power PHEMT. The VDS was 5 V.

Fig. 5.

fT as a function of VDS for a PHEMT at VG

= -0.8 V

S-parameter data for the multiple-finger PHEMT's (22 mA . mm-'. The f~ values are highly bias-dependent since the structure is designed to provide both high breakdown and high speed. Note that the devices retain high f~ values of 50 GHz and 35-40 GHz at VDS= 5 or 7 V, respectively. These high f~ values at high VDSallow the devices to be operated out to higher frequencies (up to 20 GHz) for power applications requiring large biases. The MAGMSG for the power PHEMT's measured at VDSof 3-5 V was 18-20 dB at 10 GHz and 14-15 dB at 18 GHz, respectively. Fig. 6 shows the frequency dependence of MAGMSG at VDS= 5 V for different gate voltages. The MAG at 10 GHz is shown as a function of gate voltage in Fig. 7 for a VDSof 5 V. Note that there is fairly constant gain available over a wide range of gate voltage, another desirable feature for power operation.
x 50 pm in this case) are shown in Fig. 8. From these data the

equivalent circuit of the devices was extracted and is shown in Fig. 9. This linear transistor model contains 13 equivalent circuit elements. In order to measure the maximum output power and the associated efficiency, the devices were mounted on a brass carrier with conductive epoxy and a well-characterized intercontinental fixture was used as the test jig. The measurement was performed with a simple X-band power test set-up. The source and load impedance matching were optimized with two double-probe tuners, and a band-pass filter was incorporated with the output power detector to ensure a correct power reading at the fundamental frequency. Table IV shows output power and power-added efficiency as a function of input power at 9 GHz for a 14 x 80 pm device with VDS= 8 V. We achieved 865 mW of saturated output power (corresponding

WU er al.: HIGH EFFICIENCY MICROWAVE POWER PHEMTS FABRICATED BY DRY ETCH SINGLE GATE RECESS

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0 PHEW j ll Iu n k
sri.0

TABLE IV ( ) EFFICIENCY (PAE) OUTPUT POWER P O U TAND POWER-ADDED AS A FUNCTION INPUT OF POWER P I N ) 9 GHZ FOR A 14 ( AT x 80 p m PHEMT. THEDRAIN-SOURCE VOLTAGE WAS 8 V
1 0

qN(&m)
20
18

Pm(dBm)
29.3 29.0 27.2 25.3

p a50% ) (

43 30

15
13
I

20

nf

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
0

The authors thank Drs. D. C. Wang, C. P. Wen, and T. A. Midford for technical guidance, and A. M. Gomez, M. J. Circle, R. D. Larson, A. Grohs, and J. R. Lothian for process assistance. We appreciate the support of Dr. H. C . Bowers in this work.
REFERENCES

F r e q u e n c y 0 . 5 t o 2 0 . 0 GHz

Fig. 8.

Measured

S parameters

for a PHEMT.

Rg =l.OOhm

Rd = 0.7 Ohm
R.
I

0.34 Ohm

Lp = O m n H

Ld

0.0135 nH

Ls =O.NUnH
Cgs= 1.08 pF

Cd.3-w

Cde= 0.05 PF
RI =0.10Ohm
Rds= 99.4 Ohm

Gm=S

Linear FET Model

=26pS

PHEMT025uMl.lOmm(~),Vd=7VMdVg=0.7V(113Idas).allX110*

Fig. 9. Equivalent circuit for power PHEMT derived from S-parameter data.

to a power density of 760 mW mm-) with 50% PAE and 9.25 dB associated gain at 9 GHz from this 1.12 mm PHEMT. These results are comparable to those reported by the Raytheon group [6], and demonstrate the capability of PHEMTs for power microwave applications and the monolithic integration of low noise and power PHEMTs using the same epitaxial layer design.
IV. CONCLUSIONS

An optimized pseudomorphic HEMT structure processed with a single recess gate technique produces devices with both high output power and good dc and RF performance. The device epitaxial structure is designed with a fully depleted GaAs cap layer and the gate recess was performed with a highly uniform damage-free dry etch process. The power S PHEMTs exhibit high ~ T (40-50 GHz) at high drain-source voltage and low drain-source current, an essential requirement for high power operation in the C- to Ku-band range.

[I] See e.g., C. S. Wu, G. L. Lan, C. K. Pao, S. X. Bar, and M. Hu, Pseudomorphic HEMT devices for microwave and millimeter wave applications, in Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc., vol. 300, 1993, pp. 41-54. [2] P. C. Chao, A. W. Swanson, A. Brown, U. Mishra, F. Ali, and C. Yuen, HEMT Devices and Applications, in HEMTs and HBTs, F. Ali and A. Gupta, Eds. Boston: Artech House, 1991. [3] P. M. Smith, et al., InGaAs PHEMTs for mm-wave power applications, IEEE MZT-S Dig., pp. 927-930, May 1988. [4] H. Q. Tsemg, B. Kim, P. Saunier, H. D. Shih, and M. A. Khatibzadeh, mm wave power transistor and circuits, Microwave J., pp. 125-135, Apr. 1989. [ 5 ] T. H. Chen, et al., A 0.1 W W-Band PHEMT MMIC power amplifier, in G d s IC Symp. Dig., 1992, pp. 71-74. [6] S. Shanfield, et al., IW, very high efficiency, IO and 18 GHz PHEMTs fabricated by dry first recess etching, IEEE M7T-S Dig. pp. 639-641, June 1992. [7] K. L. Lan, et al., High power, V-band PHEMT, IEEE Electron Device Lett., vol. 12, pp. 213-214, 1991. [8] C. K. Pao, et al., V-band high efficiency monolithic PHEMT power amplifiers, IEEE Microwave and Guided Wave Lett., vol. 2, pp. 394-396, 1992. [9] J. C. Huang, er al., An AlGaAdInGaAs PHEMT for X- and Ku-band power applications, [ I l l , IEEE MZT-S Dig. pp. 713-716, 1991. [IO] P. M. Smith, P. C. Chao, J. M. Ballingall, and A. W. Swanson, Microwave and mm-wave power application using PHEMTs, Microwave J., pp. 71-86, May 1990. [ l l ] C. S. Wu, K. K. Yu, M. Hu, and H. Kanber, Optimization of ohmic contacts for reliable heterostructure GaAs materials, J. Electron Mat. vol. 19, pp. 1265-1271, 1990. [I21 F. Ren, et al., 0.25 p m PHEMTs processed with damage-free dry etch gate recess process, IEEE Trans. Electron Devices, vol. 39, pp. 2701-2706, Dec. 1992. [I31 S. J. Pearton, et al., Plasma etching of 111-V semiconductor thin films, Mat. Chem. Phys. vol. 32, pp. 215-234, 1992. [14] K. L. Seaward, N. J. Moll, D. J. Coulman, and W. F. Stickle, An analytical study of etch and etch-stop reactions for GaAs on AlGaAs in CClzFz plasma, J. Appl., vol. 61, pp. 2358-2363, 1987. [15] F. Ren, et al., Dry etching bilayer and trilevel resist systems for submicron gate length GaAs-based HEMTs for power and digital applications, J. Vac. Sci. Technol., vol. B10, pp. 2949-2953, 1992. [I61 The TRIM code is described in J. F. Ziegler, J. P. Biersack, and U. Littmark, The Stopping and Range of Ions in Solids, vol. 1. NY: Pergamon Press, 1984. [I71 S. J. Pearton, J. W. Corbett, and M. Stavola, Hydrogen in Crysralline Semiconductors. Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag, 1992. [18] E. Y. Chang, G. T. Cizubar, and K. P. Pande, Passivation of GaAs FETs with PECVD S i N , films of different stress states, IEEE Trans. Electron Devices, vol. 35, pp. 1412-1418, 1988. [19] C. S. Wu, et al., High yield PHEMT manufacturing technology development, in Proc. 1993 U.S. Conj Gds Manu. Technol., 1993, pp. 4 1 4 2 .

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NO. 8, AUGUST 1995

C. S. Wu (M88SM93) received the M.S. degree in physics from National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan, in 1976, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, in 1984. After he obtained the Ph.D. degree, he joined AT&T Bell Laboratories at Murray Hill, NJ, where he was a member of the technical staff responsible for the research and development of self-aligned gate GaAs MESFET and HEMT devices and processing for high speed digital circuits. In 1987, he was the project leader in the DARPA GaAs pilot line program. In December 1987, he joined GaAs Operations, Hughes Aircraft Company, where he is currently a section head in charge of the research and development of advanced heterostructure microwave and optical devices and processes. His work has led to state-of-the-art microwavehillimeter wave pseudomorphic HEMT (PHEMT) devices and MMIC amplifiers, X-band power heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) devices and amplifiers, and high radiation hard GaAs based MQW LWIR detectors. He is currently leading an interdepartmental team for the development of MMIC PHEMT manufacturing technology. He is the principal technical investigator of advanced technology in the MIMIC Phase 2 program. He has published more than 60 technical papers on semiconductor devices, processing, and circuits, and holds eight patents. D . Wu is a member of the Bohmische Physical Society, the Materials r Research Society, and SPIE.

S. J. Pearton (A91-SM93) performed the work leading to the Ph.D. degree in physics at the Australian Atomic Energy Commission. He was a postdoctoral research associate at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, CA. Since 1984, he has been a member of the technical staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories, working in the area of ion implantation, rapid thermal annealing, GaAs-on-Si, hydrogenation, and dry etching. He is the author of over 300 journal articles and has edited five conference proceedings.

M. Hu, photograph and biography not available at the time of publication.

F. Ren (SM93) received the Ph.D. degree in inorganic chemistry from the Polytechnic University, Brooklyn, NY. He joined AT&T Bell Laboratories in 1986 as a member of the technical staff. He has worked in the areas of ion implentation, dry etching, pasivation, and metallization. He is the author of over 180 journal articles and has edited two conference proceedings.

C. K. Pa0 (S75-M7&S8@482-M82-M85), photograph and biography not available at the time of publication.

R. F. Wang, photograph and biography not available at the time of publication.

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