Microwave performance of field-plate 0.13-μm MOS transistors with varying field-plate extension

Si-based field-plate 0.13 μm gate length metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (Si MOSFET) with field-plate (FP) lengths of 0.1 μm, 0.2 μm, and 0.3 μm have been fabricated and investigated. The field-plate metals were connected to gate electrode in this study to improve device gate resistance (Rg) resulting in the better microwave performance. By increasing the length of field-plate metal extension (LFPE), the off-state drain-to-source surface leakage current can be suppressed. Besides, low surface traps in FP NMOS also leads to a higher drain-to-source current (Ids) especially at high current regime compared to standard device. The power added efficiency (PAE) was 56.3% for LFPE of 0.3 μm device, and these values where 54.7% and 53.8% for LFPE of 0.2 μm and 0.1 μm devices, respectively. Wider field-plate metal extension exhibits highly potential for low noise amplifier and high efficiency power amplifier applications.