HIGH FREQUENCY (30GHZ) GALLIUM ARSENIDE MATERIALS AND DEVICES

THIS PROJECT PROVIDES TECHNOLOGY FOR 30 GHZ SOLID-STATE POWER AMPLIFIERS (SSPA) DESIGNED FOR FUTURE COMMERCIAL AND MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITES. THIS EFFORT EMPLOYS GAAS IMPACT AVALANCHE TRANSIT TIME (IMPATT) DIODES AS THE BASIS FOR STUDY AND DEVELOPMENT. BASED ON THE EXPERIENCE GAINED FROM THE SUCCESSFUL DEVELOPMENT OF 20 GHZ SINGLE DRIFT GAAS IMPATT DIODES, THIS PROJECT IS TO TAKE AN IDENTICAL APPROACH TO REALIZE A SUCCESSFUL DEVELOPMENT OF THE 30 GHZ GAAS TECHNOLOGY. SPECIFICALLY, CRITICAL PROFILE PARAMETERS ARE IDENTIFIED THROUGH INNOVATIVE DEVICE MODELING TO ASSIST IN THE OPTIMIZED PROFILE DESIGN. FURTHERMORE, THE STUDY ASSESSES THE GROWTH POTENTIAL OF THE DERIVED PROFILE BY MOLECULAR BEAM EPITAXY WITH AN EMPHASIS ON MATERIAL AND PROFILE CHARACTERIZATION TECHNIQUES. THE OPTIMIZATION OF DIODE-PACKAGE PARASITIC CONTENT AS RELATING TO THE ASSOCIATED AMPLIFIER CIRCUIT TECHNOLOGY IS INVESTIGATED BY EMPLOYING A SCALE MODELING TECHNIQUE. THUS THE KEY ELEMENTS, PROFILE DESIGN, EPITAXY MATERIAL CHARACTERIZATION AND DEVICE MODELING, ARE INVESTIGATED DURING THIS PROJECT. THIS WILL LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A 30 GHZ SOLID STATE POWER AMPLIFIER.