Mechanism of AlGaAs/InGaAs pHEMT Nonlinear Response under High-Power Microwave Radiation

With the development of microelectronic technology, the reliability of devices in a complex electromagnetic environment has become one of the greatest challenges in the semiconductor industry. On this basis, a phenomenon of nonlinear transient response is observed in high-power microwave (HPM)-radiating AlGaAs/InGaAs pseudomorphic high-electron-mobility transistors (pHEMTs). This abnormal response is induced before the thermal failure, causing disturbances to the circuit. To understand this phenomenon, a detailed mechanism analysis is proposed. The analysis shows that the nonlinear response is initially associated with the 2DEG velocity saturation, then a breakdown process is induced by the tunneling and impact ionization combined effect. Within each radiation period, the channel current changes its direction twice under the influence of the HPM field. The nonlinear response current Id is derived from the theoretical analysis. TCAD simulations demonstrate the saturation and breakdown process. Corresponding experiments are performed using a Ka-band low-noise amplifier (LNA) chip. The results support the theory well.