IGF::OT::IGF THIS PROJECT IS DIRECTED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF LOW-LOSS, HIGH POWER-DENSITY ALUMINUM NITRIDE (…

Public award description

IGF::OT::IGF THIS PROJECT IS DIRECTED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF LOW-LOSS, HIGH POWER-DENSITY ALUMINUM NITRIDE (ALN)/GALLIUM NITRIDE (GAN) HETEROSTRUCTURE BASED TRANSISTORS FOR ENABLING HIGH-EFFICIENCY SOLID STATE POWER AMPLIFIERS (SSPA) NEEDED FOR ADVANCING CAPABILITIES OF FUTURE ROBOTIC AND HUMAN EXPLORATION SPACECRAFT. THE ALN/GAN HETEROSTRUCTURE IS A PARTICULARLY ATTRACTIVE SYSTEM FOR SWITCH-MODE APPLICATIONS DUE TO THE EXTREMELY HIGH CHARGE DENSITY, HIGH ELECTRON MOBILITY, HIGH INTRINSIC BREAKDOWN FIELD, AND PHYSICAL THINNESS ACHIEVABLE AND HAS SEEN WIDESPREAD INVESTIGATION TOWARD SOLID-STATE AMPLIFIERS IN THE RECENT YEARS. HOWEVER, VERY FEW INNOVATIONS HAVE BEEN PROPOSED WITH THIS HETEROSTRUCTURE DESPITE ITS EXPANSIVE CAPACITY FOR VARIOUS CREATIVE DEVICE CONCEPTS. A NEW PATENTPENDING MULTICHANNEL ALN/GAN FIELD SCREENING HIGH ELECTRON MOBILITY TRANSISTOR (FS-HEMT) DESIGN IS DESCRIBED. PRELIMINARY EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS ARE PRESENTED VALIDATING DESIGN PRINCIPLES THAT WILL ELIMINATE CURRENT COLLAPSE PHENOMENON AT X- AND KA-BAND FREQUENCIES THAT HAS PLAGUES TRADITIONAL HEMT DESIGNS AND WILL ULTIMATELY DELIVER A LOW-LOSS SWITCH-MODE DEVICE.