LAYOUT DESIGN FOR A HIGH POWER, GaN-BASED FET

A FET includes a substrate, a buffer layer disposed on the substrate, a channel layer disposed over the buffer layer and a barrier layer disposed over the channel layer. Source, gate and drain electrodes are located over the barrier layer and extend in a longitudinal direction thereon. A portion of the channel and barrier layers define a mesa extending in the longitudinal direction and the source and drain electrodes extend beyond an edge of the mesa. The gate electrodes extend along an edge sidewall of the mesa. A conductive source interconnect is disposed over the buffer layer and have a first end electrically connected to the source electrode. A first dielectric layer is disposed over the buffer layer and over the source interconnect. A gate via is formed in the first dielectric layer. A conductive gate node extends along the buffer layer and electrically connects the portion of the gate electrode extending along the sidewall of the mesa. A gate pad is disposed on the first dielectric layer adjacent the mesa. A conductive gate connect strip is located over the gate node and is in contact therewith. The gate strip is in electrical contact with the gate pad. A source via is formed in the first dielectric layer and a source pad is formed in the source via. The conductive source interconnect has a second end in electrical contact with the source pad.