• Electronics and Telecommunications Trends
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.53-64
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• 2021

As the 5G service market is expected to grow rapidly, the development of high-power, high-efficiency power amplifiers for the 5G communication infrastructure is indispensable. Gallium nitride (GaN) is attracting great interest as a key device in power devices and integrated circuits due to its wide bandgap, high carrier concentration, high electron mobility, and high-power saturation characteristics. In this study, we investigate the technology trends of Ka-band GaN radio frequency (RF) power devices and integrated circuits for operation in the millimeter-wave band of recent 5G mobile communication services. We review the characteristics of GaN RF high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) devices to implement power amplifiers operating at frequencies around 28 GHz and compare the technology of foreign companies with the device characteristics currently developed by the Electronics and Telecommunication Research Institute (ETRI). In addition, the characteristics of Ka-band GaN monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) power amplifiers manufactured using various GaN HEMT device technologies are reviewed by comparing characteristics such as frequency band, output power, and output power density of integrated circuits. In addition, by comparing the performance of the power amplifier developed by ETRI, the current status and future direction of domestic GaN power devices and integrated circuit technology will be discussed.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.1033-1037
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• 2019

GaN-based sensors have been widely investigated thanks to its potential in detecting the presence of hydrogen. In this study, we fabricated hydrogen gas sensors with AlGaN/GaN heterojunction and investigated how the sensing performance to be affected by SiN surface passivation. The gas sensor employed a high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) with 30 nm platinum catalyst as a gate to detect the hydrogen presence. SiN layer was deposited by inductively-coupled chemical vapor deposition as post-passivation. The sensors with SiN passivation exhibited hydrogen sensing characteristics with various gas flow rates and concentrations of hydrogen in inert background gas at $200^{\circ}C$ similar to the ones without passivation. Aside from quick response time for both sensors, there are differences in sensitivity and recovery time because of the existence of the passivation layer. The results also confirmed the dependence of sensing performance on gas flow rate and gas concentration.

• Journal of electromagnetic engineering and science
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.82-88
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• 2015

The magnetron, a vacuum tube, is currently the usual high-power microwave power source used for microwave heating. However, the oscillating frequency and output power are unstable and noisy due to the low quality of the high-voltage power supply and low Q of the oscillation circuit. A heating system with enhanced reliability and the capability for control of chemical reactions is desired, because microwave absorption efficiency differs greatly depending on the object being heated. Recent studies on microwave high-efficiency power amplifiers have used harmonic processing techniques, such as class-F and inverse class-F. The present study describes a high-efficiency 100 W GaN-HEMT amplifier that uses a harmonic processing technique that shapes the current and voltage waveforms to improve efficiency. The fabricated GaN power amplifier obtained an output power of 50.4 dBm, a drain efficiency of 72.9%, and a power added efficiency (PAE) of 64.0% at 2.45 GHz for continuous wave operation. A prototype microwave heating system was also developed using this GaN power amplifier. Microwaves totaling 400 W are fed from patch antennas mounted on the top and bottom of the microwave chamber. Preliminary heating experiments with this system have just been initiated.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.33-37
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• 2024

In this paper, we report the design and the measurement of a X-band low noise amplifier (LNA) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) using a 0.25 ㎛ gate length microstrip GaN-on-SiC high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) technology. The developed X-band GaN-based LNA MMIC achieves small signal gain of 22.75 dB ~ 25.14 dB and noise figure of 1.84 dB ~ 1.94 dB in the desired band of 9 GHz to 10 GHz. Input and output return loss values are -11.36 dB ~ -24.49 dB and -11.11 dB ~ -17.68 dB, respectively. The LNA MMIC can withstand 40 dBm (10 W) input power without performance degradation. The chip dimensions are 3.67 mm × 1.15 mm. The developed GaN-based LNA MMIC is applicable to various X-band applications.

• International Journal of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.30-36
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• 2020

We demonstrated a successful fabrication of 4" Gallium Nitride (GaN)/Diamond High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMTs) incorporated with Inner Slot Via Hole process. We made in manufacturing technology of 4" GaN/Diamond HEMT wafers in a compound semiconductor foundry since reported [1]. Wafer thickness uniformity and wafer flatness of starting GaN/Diamond wafers have improved greatly, which contributed to improved processing yield. By optimizing Laser drilling techniques, we successfully demonstrated a through-substrate-via process, which is last hurdle in GaN/Diamond manufacturing technology. To fully exploit Diamond's superior thermal property for GaN HEMT devices, we include Aluminum Nitride (AlN) barrier in epitaxial layer structure, in addition to conventional Aluminum Gallium Nitride (AlGaN) barrier layer. The current collapse revealed very stable up to Vds = 90 V. The trapping behaviors were measured Emission Microscope (EMMI). The traps are located in interface between Silicon Nitride (SiN) passivation layer and GaN cap layer.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2018.07a
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• pp.322-323
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• 2018

차량용 LED 백라이트 구동회로는 시스템의 성능 향상을 위해 고밀도/고효율의 DC-DC컨버터가 요구되며 이를 위해 WBG(Wide Band Gap) 소자인 GaN HEMT가 기반의 동기 정류 부스트 컨버터의 설계 가이드를 제시하고 500kHz 스위칭 주파수의 30W급 동기 정류 부스트 컨버터를 구현한다.

• KIPE Magazine
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.66-71
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• 2018

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Telematics and Electronics A
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• v.31A no.9
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• pp.114-120
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• 1994

We have been successfully fabricated the low nois HEMT device with AlGaAs and GaAs structure. The epitazial layer with n-type AlgaAs and undoped GaAs was grown by molecular beam epitaxy(MBE) system. Ohmic resistivity of the ource and drain contact is below 5${\times}10^{6}{\Omega}{\cdot}cm^{2}$ by the rapid thermal annealing (RTA) process. The ideality factor of the Schottky gate is below 1.6 and the gate material was Ti/Pt/Au. The HEMTs with 0.25$\mu$m-long and 200$\mu$m-wide gates have exhibited a noise figure of 0.65dB with associated gain of 9dB at 12GHz, and a transconductance of 208mS/mm.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SD
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• v.48 no.12
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• pp.8-14
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• 2011

The optimal geometry of the gate field plate in AlGaN/GaN-on-Si HEMT has been proposed using two-dimensional device simulation to achieve a high breakdown voltage for a given gate-to-drain distance. It was found that the breakdown voltage was drastically enhanced due to the reduced electric field at the gate corner when a gate field plate was employed. The electric field distribution at the gate corner and the field plate edge was investigated as functions of field plate length and insulator thickness. According to the simulation results, the electric field at the gate corner can be successfully reduced even with the field plate length of 1 ${\mu}m$. On the other hand, when the field plate length is too long, the distance between field plate and drain electrode is reduced below a critical level, which eventually lowers the breakdown voltage. The highest breakdown voltage was achieved with the field plate length of 1 ${\mu}m$. According to the simulation results varying the $SiN_x$ film thickness for the fixed field plate length of 1 ${\mu}m$, the optimum thickness range of the $SiN_x$ film was 200 - 300 nm where the electric field strength at the field plate edge counterbalances that of the gate corner.

• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.77-82
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• 2022

The effect of the bias network on the performance of the W-band power amplifier(PA) was investigated. The performances of the typical RC and radial stub networks were examined, and a hybrid network was proposed for W-band application and its performance was confirmed. To verify this, a W-band PA was designed using a 60-nm GaN pHEMT process. When hybrid networks were applied, the PA had improved stability in all frequency bands, secured about 9 dB of power gain at operating frequencies 87 GHz to 93 GHz, and the maximum PAE was found to be about 12.3% at output power of 26.7 dBm.