High-efficiency, high-breakdown AlGaN/GaN HEMTs with lifetimes beyond 20 years

AlGaN/GaN HEMTs on various substrates have raised a lot of interest for the application in future high-efficiency base station systems for next generation mobile communication, currently dominated by LDMOS technology. Using GaN technology in a transmitter, infrastructure equipment manufacturers will benefit from major improvements in system performance and flexibility. AlGaN/GaN HEMTs enable innovative circuit concepts and transceiver architecture (e.g. switch mode power amplifiers, SMPA) with high efficiency and high operating bias. However, besides performance it will be crucial to match or even exceed the device reliability of other technologies in order to be competitive. To meet this goal, it is vital to optimize epitaxial growth as well as process technology.