Passivation-Free Ga-Polar AlGaN/GaN Recessed-Gate HEMTs on Sapphire with 2.8 W/mm POUT and 26.8% PAE at 94 GHz

Abstract

In this work, we demonstrate a passivation-free Ga-polar recessed-gate AlGaN/GaN HEMT on a sapphire substrate for W-band operation, featuring a 5.5 nm Al0.35Ga0.65N barrier under the gate and a 31 nm Al0.35Ga0.65N barrier in the gate access regions. The device achieves a drain current density of 1.8 A/mm, a peak transconductance of 750 mS/mm, and low gate leakage with a high on/off ratio of 10^7. Small-signal characterization reveals a current-gain cutoff frequency of 127 GHz and a maximum oscillation frequency of 203 GHz. Continuous-wave load-pull measurements at 94 GHz demonstrate an output power density of 2.8 W/mm with 26.8% power-added efficiency (PAE), both of which represent the highest values reported for Ga-polar GaN HEMTs on sapphire substrates and are comparable to state-of-the-art Ga-polar GaN HEMTs on SiC substrates. Considering the low cost of sapphire, the simplicity of the epitaxial design, and the reduced fabrication complexity relative to N-polar devices, this work highlights the potential of recessed-gate Ga-polar AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on sapphire as a promising candidate for next-generation millimeter-wave power applications.