MESFET

Typical MESFET Structure

N-channel MESFET is more popular
because
1. Electrons have higher mobility
2. Source and drain contacts are easier
to be ohmic for n-type III-V
compound semiconductors
P-type

The Schottky gate is like a

p+/n abrupt junction.
d 2V  qN D
 2 - -
dy  
 Pinch - off Voltage
qN D a 2
Vp 
2
Typically, channel is not heavily doped.
 Typical Material for Terminal Contacts
in GaAs MESFET
• AuGe (annealed) for source and drain
• Ti (not annealed) for gate
 I-V Characteristics of a Long-
Channel Si n-MESFET (1)

Limited by saturated
carrier velocity

Note the change of the

depletion region width
along the channel

I D  nqvA

Gate voltage reduces the channel cross-section

 I-V Characteristics of a Long-
Channel Si n-MESFET (2)

VD

VDSAT is reached. I D  nqvA

Carrier velocity saturates A dipole domain is formed near
near the drain. the drain under the condition of
velocity saturation
 I-V Characteristics of a Long-
Channel Si n-MESFET (3)

More negative gate bias reduces current.

When VG reaches Vp, ID is nearly cut off.
Enhanced Formation of Dipole Domain in
Long-channel GaAs MESFET
Scattering exists and
induces inter-valley
transfer of electrons

Negative differential
mobility enhances
the dipole domain
formation
-

(About 3.5 kV/cm)

In Short-channel GaAs MESFET…

Ballistic
transport
dominates

Less scattering
events in the
channel

Less inter-valley
transitions in the
channel
Monte Carlo Simulation of a Short-
channel GaAs MESFET (1)
 Monte Carlo Simulation of a Short-
channel GaAs MESFET (1)

0 .8 V
E  3.2 x10 4 V/cm  Ec  3.5 kV/cm
0.25μm
Intervalle y transiti on should have occured if scattering were significan t.
Monte Carlo Simulation of a Short-
channel GaAs MESFET (2)
Inter-valley electron
transfer does occur, but
not in the channel region

V DS  0.8 V
VGS  0.2 V

> 2E7 cm/s !!

I-V Characteristics of the Short-
channel GaAs MESFET

Looks very resistive

 Small-signal Equivalent Circuit Model of
an MESFET
Ri acts as a charging resistance for
the gate-source capacitance. Cdc
accounts for the dipole domain.

gm: low-f transconductance

to: carrier transit-time delay

Ep stands for the threshold electric

field of carrier velocity saturation

Small R’s and C’s are

essential for high-f operation
 Optimization of MESFET for High-f
Applications
g mi 1 vs
fT   
2 C gs  C gd  2t 2Leff
(neglectin g C dc )
• must
fT Rds
f max 
2 R g  Rs  C gd R g / C ds
g mi
gm  (neglectin g R g ) Here,
1  g mi Rs gmi: Intrinsic transconductance
R g  Rs gm: Extrinsic transconductance
NFmin (dB)  1  2fK f C gs Kf : A fitting parameter
g mi
• Reduce L to increase gmi  Need E-beam Lithography
• Increase Rds  Reduce Short-Channel Effect  L/a must not be too
small  L/a=3~5
• Reduce Cgs, Cgd, Rg, and Rs
– Heavy local doping and high carrier mobility are welcome
– Special gate structures help
T-gate and Multi-finger Gate Structure for
Smaller CG and RG
Rs  R1  R2  R3
L2 a3
1
R1 
a1 a2
0 .5
Wa N 10.66
1
L3 L2
R2 
Wa 2 N 20.82
L3
R3 
Wa 3 N 30.82

Note that the gate has been

recessed (in fact, source and
drain are raised) and moved
closer to the source to get
smaller RS

The gate finger length must

be smaller than l/16 so that
no significant phase delay
occurs along the fingers
Example of T-gate Fabrication Process
Further Reducing the Rs
 Bias Dependence
• Remember, all parameters are dependent on
bias voltages Try to explain the trend of the figure.
Short-channel GaAs MESFET Increases due to Decreases due to gmi
L= 0.1 um decreasing capacitances roll-off
W= 50 um
Two-finger

fmax

fT