Effects of self-heating on fT and fmax performance of graphene field-effect transistors

Journal article, 2020

It has been shown that there can be a significant temperature increase in graphene field-effect transistors (GFETs) operating under high drain bias, which is required for power gain. However, the possible effects of self-heating on the high-frequency performance of GFETs have been weakly addressed so far. In this article, we report on an experimental and theoretical study of the effects of self-heating on dc and high-frequency performance of GFETs by introducing a method that allows accurate evaluation of the effective channel temperature of GFETs with a submicrometer gate length. In the method, theoretical expressions for the transit frequency (fT) and the maximum frequency of oscillation (fmax) based on the small-signal equivalent circuit parameters are used in combination with the models of the field- and temperature-dependent charge carrier concentration, velocity, and saturation velocity of GFETs. The thermal resistances found by our method are in good agreement with those obtained by the solution of the Laplace equation and by the method of thermo-sensitive electrical parameters. Our experiments and modeling indicate that the self-heating can significantly degrade the fT and fmax of GFETs at power densities above 1 mW/μm², from approximately 25 to 20 GHz. This article provides valuable insights for further development of GFETs, taking into account the self-heating effects on the high-frequency performance.