Breakdown Analysis of a Body-Contacted Submicron High Electron Mobility Transistor

Introduction

Interest continues to grow in the development of high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) technologies for micrometer and millimeter wave power applications. A primary concern of device designers working with such technologies is the breakdown behavior in both the on- and off-states. As is the case for most field-effect transistors, reducing device dimensions results in a larger internal electric field near the drain-end of the device?s channel. The presence of such a field within the device can affect many areas of device performance including the breakdown characteristics.