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Abstract
Silicon carbide vertical MESFET devices are well suited for high speed and high power electronic devices. In this work we
have optimized the geometry of vertical MESFETs for microwave applications, using iterative two-dimensional simulations.
Relevant parasitics are included in the simulations to investigate the performance of realistic devices. The state of the art device
has f Ts7 GHz and we show that vertical MESFETs fabricated with traditional technology are totally limited by parasitics. Two
different approaches to reduce the parasitics in the vertical MESFET are proposed where f T increases significantly. 2002
Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: MESFET; Device modeling; SiC
1. Introduction
Silicon carbide is a promising material to be used in
high power and high frequency electronics due to the
favorable combination of several material properties.
The large bandgap (f3 eV), high breakdown electrical
field (24 MVycm), and high thermal conductivity
(f5 Wycm 8C), allows operation at high voltages and
consequently high power densities. The high saturation
velocity, f2=107 cmys, and moderately high mobility,
up to 1000 cm2 yVs, allow high-speed operation of SiC
devices. Silicon carbide is known in over 100 polytypes,
from which 3C, 4H and 6HSiC are the most widely
used in electronic devices. 6HSiC has the lowest
mobility and a very high anisotropy due to the long
repetition length in the crystallographic structure. 4H
SiC is the most promising candidate due to a moderate
mobility and small anisotropy. 3CSiC epitaxial layers
can be grown on silicon, which is an advantage in
integration with Si technology and a trade-off in priceperformance. 2HSiC has been grown in laboratories
and is expected to be a suitable material for devices due
to an expected higher mobility compared with 4HSiC.
SiC MESFET devices are promising candidates for
high-power microwave applications and the highest
0925-9635/02/$ - see front matter 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 9 2 5 - 9 6 3 5 0 1 . 0 0 5 5 0 - 7
1255
Fig. 1. The MESFET structures used in the optimization. (a) Vertical MESFET processed in the traditional way. (b) Etched and metallized
trenches from the rear side and gate-pad placed on a field-oxide layer to decrease the drain-resistance. (c) The vertical MESFET realized on a
semi-insulating substrate.
3. Optimization
The optimization goal is to achieve highest possible
unity current gain frequency, f T, which is calculated as
fTs
gm
2pCg
(1)
The transconductance, gm, is extracted from simulations and total gate capacitance Cg is calculated as the
sum of the device capacitance, Cdevice, and the pad
capacitance, Cpad.
CgsCdeviceqCpadsCchlzqSiC
Apad
t
(2)
1
2pyLbondCg
(3)
lzs
Cch"yC2chq4g2mLbond Cpad
2g2mLbond
(4)
1256
Table 1
Geometry of optimized devices
5. Device improvements
Device
Lds (mm)
Lgd (mm)
Wch (mm)
wgate (mm)
ND (cmy3)
lz (mm)
f T (GHz)
2.0
1.6
0.30
0.20
5.0=1015
3.0
7.5
0.56
0.45
0.20
0.20
5.0=1015
0.24
34
0.45
0.33
0.20
0.20
5.0=1015
0.17
43
4. Optimization results
The 2Hy4Hy6HSiC vertical MESFET optimized for
high frequency have reached f T equal to 8.6y7.5y2.2
GHz. The low value for the 6HSiC device is due to
the bad transport properties perpendicular to the surface
in 6HSiC. The best performance is achieved for a 2H
SiC device due to the favorable transport properties in
the direction perpendicular to the surface. In Table 1 the
geometry of the optimized vertical 4HSiC MESFET
realized in a standard technology using a lithographic
resolution limited to 0.2 mm, is shown.
The influence of the lithographic resolution on f T is
studied and presented in Fig. 3. The low influence of
the lithographic resolution is due to the increased parasitic bulk resistance as the channel and gate widths are
reduced.
The state of the art vertical MESFET is manufactured
with a lithographic resolution 0.5 mm w2x, pad-size of
75=75 mm2 w14x, and f Ts7 GHz. The optimization
procedure for high frequency presented here using the
same lithographic resolution is in excellent agreement
and gives f Ts7.1 GHz.
Fig. 3. Unity current gain frequency, f T, as a function of the lithographic resolution for different types of 4HSiC MESFETs. (s) Normal vertical MESFET; (h) vertical MESFET with reduced effective
bulk thickness and increased gate-pad bulk spacing; (e) vertical
MESFET on semi-insulating substrate.
1257
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