Cryogenic noise performance of InGAAs/InAlAs HEMTs grown on InP and GaAs substrate
Journal article, 2014

We present a comparative study of InGaAs/InAlAs high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs), intended for cryogenic ultra-low noise amplifiers (LNAs) and fabricated on different substrate and buffer technologies. The first was pseudomorphically grown on InP (InP pHEMT) while the second was grown on a linearly graded metamorphic InAlAs buffer on top of a GaAs substrate (GaAs mHEMT). Both HEMTs had identical active epitaxial regions. When integrated in a 4–8 GHz 3-stage LNA at 300 K, the measured average noise temperature was 45 K for the InP pHEMT and 49 K (9% higher) for the GaAs mHEMT. When cooled down to 10 K, the InP pHEMT LNA was improved to 1.7 K whereas the GaAs mHEMT LNA was only reduced to 4 K (135% higher). The observed superior cryogenic noise performance of the HEMTs grown on InP is believed to be due to a higher carrier confinement within the channel. Microscopy analysis suggested this was related to defects from the metamorphic buffer of the GaAs mHEMT.

Author

Joel Schleeh

Chalmers, Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2), Microwave Electronics

Helena Rodilla

Chalmers, Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2), Microwave Electronics

Niklas Wadefalk

Chalmers, Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2), Microwave Electronics

Per-Åke Nilsson

Chalmers, Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2), Microwave Electronics

Jan Grahn

Chalmers, Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2), Microwave Electronics

Solid-State Electronics

0038-1101 (ISSN)

Vol. 91 74-77

Areas of Advance

Information and Communication Technology

Infrastructure

Nanofabrication Laboratory

Subject Categories

Other Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering

DOI

10.1016/j.sse.2013.10.004

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Latest update

3/2/2022 6