ECX 5239 Physical Electronics Presentation 3

Answers for Assignment #3

Name: A.H.T.T.N.S. Thotahewa Reg # : 60664829

Different types of Ga As MESFET models

Characteristics, Uses & Limitations

What is FET ?
A field-effect transistor (FET) is a three-terminal device in which current flows through a narrow conducting channel between two electrodes called source and drain. The current is modulated by the electric field caused by voltage applied at the third electrode called gate. Current flow along the channel is almost entirely due to the motion of majority carriers. So, the FET is a unipolar device and there are two types of FETs: n-channel devices and p-channel devices.

FETs

Junction FETs (JFET)

IG FETs,MISFETs, MOSFETs

DE-MOSFETs Ga As FETs, MESFETs

E-MOSFETs

Ga As

MESFET = Gallium Arsenide Metal Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor Gallium Arsenide is a compound semiconductor made from Gallium(Group III) & Arsenic(Group V) elements. The MESFET consists of a conducting channel positioned between a source and drain contact region. The charge carriers(electrons) flow from source to drain is controlled by a Schottky barrier gate. The control of the channel is obtained by varying the depletion layer width underneath the metal contact which modulates the thickness of the conducting channel and thereby the current.

Fig 1 : Basic structure of a MESFET

Gallium Arsenide Vs Silicon

The saturated electron drift velocity of GaAs is ~2 times Si. (That means GaAs devices require less voltage to enter saturation) The mobility of electrons in GaAs is 6-7 times that of Si. (i.e. very fast electron transit time) Intrinsic bulk resistivities are higher, which minimizes parasitic capacitances and allows easy isolation of multiple devices in a single substrate. (GaAs=108 & Si=2.2x105 cm) GaAs has wider operating temperature(2000C), due to wider band gap. GaAs substrate is more brittle than Si and therefore thicker.

MESFET Operation
The channel in a MESFET is formed by doping GaAs substrate. A depletion region extends only part away through the channel for a depletion device (highly doped thick channel) and all the way through for an enhancement device (lightly doped thin channel). MESFETs are similar in operation to MOSFETs except for a schottky diode formed at the gate junction; the capacitance of ehich is used to control the effective charge in the channel. The threshold voltage is given by: (barrier volatge pinch off voltage ) The pinch off voltage is simply the total voltage, both built in potential voltage and externally applied voltage necessary to completely deplete the channel of mobile charge carriers.

The drain current in a MESFET is controlled by VGS & VDS and the device has three regions of operation. Cutt-off ; where the channel is completely cut off by the depletion region, which extends into the channel. This occurs when the external bias voltage applied to the schottky diode is less than the threshold voltage,  GS  VTH e 0 V Linear or Ohmic ; where there is a voltage applied to VGS V above the threshold voltage  GS  VTH " 0 , and VDS is positive and less than the drain-source saturation voltage, VDS sat . The drain current is linear with VDS in this region so the channel act as a resister. Saturation ; if VGS VTH > 0 and VDS > VDS sat , the depletion region becomes wedge shaped and the channel becomes pinched off at the drain end limiting the flow of current.

VGS

VDS G D

Cut  Off VGS  VTH e 0 Linear VGS  VTH " 0 VDS VDS sat

Saturation VGS  VTH " 0 VDS u VDS sat

Approximations used in MESFET circuit simulation models

1. Uniform charge distribution ; The MESFET channel is assumed to consist of a uniformly doped n-region, which ends abruptly at a specific depth. 2. Gradual channel approximation ; The potential in the channel at the gate junction is assumed to be a slowly varying function of the position in the x direction. 3. Abrupt depletion layer ; The depletion layer that forms in the channel under the MESFET gate is assumed to end abruptly. 4. Piecewise-linear approximation of the electron velocity as a function of the electric field in the channel.

The Curtice Model

This is the modified version (by Curtice) of the model which is proposed by V.Tuyl in 1974. This model is also known as Hyperbolic Tangent Model. This model describes IDS (Drain to Source current) as a function of VDS and VGS as ;

I DS ! F  GS  VTH V
IDS drain to source current VGS gate to source voltage VDS drain to source voltage

Exp

1  PVDS v tanhEVDS

VTH Threshold voltage

E tanh constant

channel length modification coefficient

F Transconductance coefficient

Exp variable exponent ( Exp = 2 for curtice model)

Here is an example fit of this models VI characteristic;

Figure 1 : VI characteristic of hyperbolic tangent model (original curtice model)

The main disadvantage of this model is , it takes long time to evaluate tanh function in the equation. This leads to slow down the simulation process. Also by varying the value of Exp, we can get better approximation to measured VI curve. Usually Exp values smaller than 2 gives best results. As an example consider the following graph, obtained for Exp = 1.51.

Figure 2 : VI characteristic of hyperbolic tangent model (Exp = 1.51)

The Statz Model

In 1987, Statz proposed a FET model to simulate IDS(VDS, VGS) characteristics by using the following expressions called Statz Model (also known as Raytheon model)
Linear region :

I DS

F  GS  VTH 2 EVDS 3 V 1 !   PVDS v 1  1  3 V 1  H  GS  VTH

for 0 VDS

3 E

Saturation region :

I DS

F  GS  VTH 2 V 1 !   PVDS 1  H  GS  VTH V

for VDS

3 u E

The term

approximation to the tanh function that saves evaluation time of the simulation process. So the simulation process takes less time than that of in Curtice model.

3 EVDS 1  1  3

in linear region equation is a polynomial

The following graph shows example fit of Statz model VI characteristic curves.

Figure 3 : VI characteristic of Statz model

References
GaAs MESFET Modeling for Digital Integrated Circuit Simulation by Mikael Anderson, Department of Electrical En gineering, Helsinki University of Technology, 1991

Thank You