A novel GaN HEMT with double recessed barrier layer for high efficiency-energy applications

In this paper, a novel GaN HEMT with high efficiency-energy characteristic is proposed. Different from the conventional structure, the proposed structure contains double recessed barriers layer (DRBL) beside the gate. The key idea in this work is to improve the microwave output characteristics. The simulated results show that the drain saturation current and peak transconductance of DRBL GaN HEMT is slightly decreased, the transconductance saturation flatness is increased by 0.5 V and the breakdown voltage is also enhanced too. Due to the both recessed barrier layer, the gate-drain/gate-source capacitance is decreased by 6.3% and 11.3%, respectively. The RF simulated results show that the maximum oscillation frequency for DRBL GaN HEMT is increased from 57 GHz to 64 GHz and the saturation power density is 8.7 W/mm at 600 MHz, 6.9 W/mm at 1200 MHz with the higher power added efficiency (PAE). Further investigation show that DRBL GaN HEMT can achieve to 6.4 W/mm and the maximum PAE 83.8% at 2400 MHz. Both are higher than the 5.0 W/mm and 80.3% for the conventional structure. When the operating frequency increases to X band, the DRBL GaN HEMT still exhibits the superior output performances. All the results show that the advantages and the potential capacities of DRBL GaN HEMT at high efficiency-energy are greater than the conventional GaN HEMT.