High-Power Microwave GaN/AlGaN HEMTs and MMICs on SiC and Silicon Substrates for Modern Radio Communication

摘要

In this paper the recent use AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistorsrn(HEMTs) and integrated circuits on both semi-insulating silicon carbidern(SiC) and silicon substrates for radio communication in the microwave andrnmm-wave frequency range is described. AlGaN/GaN monolithically microwavernintegrated circuits (MMICs) are extremely useful for point-to-pointrn(P2P)-links in the backbones of the 4th and upcoming 5th generation ofrnmobile communication networks as power amplifiers, as they provide a greatrnamount of linear power. At the same time GaN-based power conversionrnelectronics has driven the advancement of the growth of AlGaN/GaNrnheterostructures on conductive silicon (111) substrates. This again hasrnindirectly led to advancements in the growth capabilities of AlGaN/GaNrnheterostructures on highly-resistive (HR) silicon substrates. The paper givesrnexamples of transistors and microstrip transmission-line-based MMICsrnrealized in a direct comparison of GaN on s.i. SiC and GaN on HR-silicon.rnConstraints and performances for highly-efficient MMICs are discussed up tornmm-wave frequencies beyond 100 GHz.