High-power-density GaAs MISFETs with a low-temperature-grown epitaxial layer as the insulator

A GaAs layer grown by molecular beam epitaxy at 200 degrees C is used as the gate insulator for GaAs MISFETs. The gate reverse breakdown and forward turn-on voltages, are improved substantially by using the high-resistivity GaAs layer between the gate metal and the conducting channel. It is shown that a reverse bias of 42 V or forward bias of 9,3 V is needed to reach a gate current of 1 mA/mm of gate width. A MISFET having a gate of 1.5*600 mu m delivers an output power of 940 mW (1.57-W/mm power density) with 4.4-dB gain and 27.3% power added efficiency at 1.1 GHz. This is the highest power density reported for GaAs-based FETs.< >