Axel HülsmannAxel Tessmann

Jutta KühnOliver Ambacher

mHEMT based MMICs, Modules, and Systems for mmWave Applications

Tullastraße 7279108 Freiburg, Germany

+49 761 5159 0www.iaf.fraunhofer.de

Christaweg 5479114 Freiburg, Germany+49 761 5951 4692info@ondosense.comwww.ondosense.com

About OndoSense GmbH

2

founder: Dr.-Ing. Mathias Klenner (CEO)Bernhard Schöne-Remmeau (CFO)Dr.-Ing. Axel Hülsmann (CTO)

background: Dr. Klenner und Dr. Hülsmann have been with Fraunhofer- IAF for many years working on applied research on millimeter wave sensorics on the basis of III/V-semiconductors. Bernhard Schöne-Remmeau is an industrial engineer from University Kaiserlautern.

OndoSense: OndoSense has been founded in March 2018 to develop, to produce, and put on the market cost efficient millimeter wave sensors partially based on high performance MMICs from Fraunhofer-IAF. OndoSense is supported by University of Freiburg and Fraunhofer-IAF by Prof. Oliver Ambacher (INATECH) and funded by the grand program EXIST supported by the European Social Fund and the German ministry of economics.

About Fraunhofer - IAF

3

founded: 1957

staff: 280

funding: 28 million € / year

labs and offices: 8.000 m²

clean room: 1000 m2

The Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics (IAF) is a science and technology center in the field of micro- and nano-patterned compound semiconductors and diamond

About Fraunhofer Society

§ Largest organization for applied Research in Europe

§ headquarter in Munich

§ Founded in 1949

§ 60 institutes @ 40 locations

§ 25,000 employees

§ 2 B€ research budget

§ Fraunhofer funding model: 1/3 basic, 1/3 project, 1/3 industry

Outline:

§mHEMT

§MMICs

§Modules

§Systems

§Application

metamorphic buffer

Epitaxy of metamorphic HEMT structures

100 nm gate length:

65 % In content

ns = 3.81012 cm-2

µe = 11000 cm2/Vs

50 nm gate length:

80 % In content

ns = 4.21012 cm-2

µe = 11800 cm2/Vs

7

HEMT (High Electron Mobility Transistor)

g

effsat,T L2

vf

π

barrier

Lg

substrate

channel (2DEG)

d DS

draingatesource

Channel vsat,eff

[107 cm /s]

fT [G H z]

@ 0.1 µm

gate length

G aA s 1.1 170

In0.25G a0.75A s 1.5 240

In0.53G a0.47A s 2.0 310

Lattice matched on GaAs (AlGaAs/GaAs) HEMT

Strained on GaAs (AlGaAs/InGaAs) pHEMT

Lattice matched to InP (AlInAs/InGaAs)

mHEMT

Relaxed on GaAs (AlInAs/InAs) enhanced

mHEMT

Relaxed on GaAs (AlSbAs/InSb) advanced

mHEMT

Channel material

Gate length

§ Small gate length and high electron velocity enable high fT

Equivalent Circuit Model for mHEMTs

§ Covers wide bias range and frequency range § Scalable with gate width, variable finger number§ Proper noise description§ Temperature dependence

mHEMT - metamorphic HEMT withInGaAs channel on GaAs substrate

LG = 100 nmfT/fmax = 220/300 GHz

50 nm375/600 GHz

35 nm515/900 GHz

20 nmfT = 660 GHz(Leuther et al. IPRM 2011)

Development of InGaAs/InAlAs mHEMT Technology

LNA MMICs

Technologygain (dB)@ 94 GHz

noise (dB)@ 94 GHz

gain (dB)@ 210 GHz

noise (dB)@ 210 GHz

50 nm 20 1.9 17.5 4.8

100 nm 22 2.5 18 7.4

50 nm technology achieves record noise figures @ 94 and 210 GHz

The Art of Device Modelling above 100 GHz

Gate feed

Drain feed

Capacitve shell

Inductive shell

Resistive shell

Intrinsic core

The Art of Device Modelling above 100 GHz

§ Having n-Elements to fit my model, I can simulate an elephant

§ With n+1 Elements, I can even wave with the trunk

§ Think about physical plausibility

The Art of Device Modelling above 100 GHz

§ Discrete distributed equivalent circuit

§ Two gate finger FET§ Common source configuration

The Art of Device Modelling above 100 GHz

§ On-Wafer VNA s-Parameters up to 750 GHz§ Temperature controlled calibration§ Calibration test set (short, open?, through, 50 Ohm)§ Device test structures with different gate width and

different reference planes§ Grounded probe pads§ Identification of the reference plane§ S-Parameter measurements on several devices

distributed on wafer§ S-Parameter measurements on different wafers and

batches§ Small signal shell model (drain and gate as open

stubs!)§ Verification model <-> measurement

2-port

Modelling of a 5-stage LNA with 50nm mHEMTs

Outline:

§mHEMT

§MMICs

§Modules

§Systems

§Application

50nm mHEMT MMIC Process on 4” GaAs Wafers

§ Two metalization layers§ 2,7 µm gold air bridges§ 225 pF/mm2 MIM capacitors§ 50 / NiCr resistors

SiNNiCrOHM MESA

GATE

SUBSTRATE

Au

METG

SiNMET1 MET1

§ 250 nm CVD SiN passivation§ Full wafer-size backside process§ Microstrip technology and

grounded coplanar waveguide

MMIC – Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit

mHEMT based MMIC for THz Frequencies

50 nm

35 nm

MMIC S-MMIC TMIC

100 nm

20 nm

LNA 440 - 480 GHz

Multiplier ×1278 - 100 GHz

Rx, Tx 210 - 270 GHz

Multiplier ×3280 - 320 GHz

Multiplier ×2380 - 440 GHz

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 10001E-4

1E-3

0.01

0.1

1

10

atm

osph

eric

atte

nuat

ion

[dB/

m]

frequency [GHz]

1 bar, 20°C, 43.4% RH

0

1

2

3

4

5

80 85 90 95 1000

5

10

15

20

25

gain

[dB

]

Frequency [GHz]

gain

NF

NF

[dB

]

Two-Stage W-Band Low-Noise Amplifier MMIC

§ Reactively matched§ Cascode mHEMTs§ Gate length 50 nm§ Gate width 4 15 µm§ Chip-size 0.75 1.5

mm2

§ Gain > 20 dB @ 75 ... 105 GHz

§ Noise figure 2 dB @ T = 293 K

§ Power consumption 48 mW§ Vd = 1.6 V, Id = 30 mA

Ultra-Broad-Band Millimeter-Wave Amplifiers

§ 35 nm mHEMT technology§ 4-stage cascode low-noise

amplifier§ Chip size 0.5 × 1.2 mm2

§ Gain > 20 dB (220 - 325 GHz)§ Noise figure 6.9 dB (Simulation)§ Power dissipation 50 mW

220 240 260 280 300 320-30-20-10

0102030

S22S-

Para

met

ers

[dB]

Frequency [GHz]

S21

S11

Frequenz [GHz]

S-Par

amet

er [

dB]

20 nm

220 GHz Transmitter and Receiver MMICs forUltra-High-Speed Data Link

§ Fully integrated mmW ICs§ Very broadband IF§ Identical chip layout

eases module integration§ MMIC size 0.75 × 2 mm2

X2mixer

LO

IF

RF

X2mixer

LO

IF

RF

300 GHz Radar Chip Set for SAR Imaging Systems

§ Chip set for miniaturized Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)§ 40 GHz bandwidth for ultra-high resolution

§ 35 nm gate length metamorphic HEMTs

§ 6-stage common source amplifier§ 12 dB small-signal gain @ 630 GHz§ Compact coplanar design§ Chip size only 0.5 0.27 mm2

§ Record value (IAF, NGC/USA)

630 GHz Amplifier MMIC

IN

Phase

MW IN

MW IN

Oscillator

Mixer

Oscillator

LNA

PhaseLNA

fIF = | fTX – fRX |fIF = | fTX – fRX |

Mixer

Multifunctional Integration: 94 GHz FMCW Radar MMIC

§ 6 GHz Bandwidth§ 10 dBm Output power§ Transmit and receive signal separation on-chip§ Current supply 200mA @ 2V

Outline:

§mHEMT

§MMICs

§Modules

§Systems

§Application

Packaging Technologies for Millimeter-Wave Modules

75 - 110 GHzfrequency multiplier-by-6

W-band 4-channelheterodyne receiver

on-board patch antenna94 GHz FMCW radar 300 GHz amplifier

§ Batch production of RF modules for partners (e.g. ESG)

W-Band Power Amplifier Module

3) Waveguide to MPA transition5) PA MMIC6) MPA MMIC11) Quartz microstrip line12) Quartz bias sub-mount PA13) Quartz bias sub-mount MPA

DC supplyM8 connector

WR-10out

W-Band HPA Module Measurements

Modules with Integrated Antennas

220 240 260 280 300 320-30-20-10

0102030

S-Pa

ram

eter

s [d

B]

Frequency [GHz]

S21

S11

S22

§ Integrated Antennas (laser structured) on GaAs substrate§ Chip size 0,5 × 1,2 mm2

§ Maximum gain 21 dB @ 300 GHz§ Gain > 14 dB (220 - 320 GHz)

S-Par

amet

er [

dB]

Frequenz [GHz]

Outline:

§mHEMT

§MMICs

§Modules

§Systems

§Application

220 GHz Wireless Communication: >25 Gbit/s Data Link

World record wireless data rate

20 m 10 m

NRZ-OOK PRBS

§ 30 Gbit/s data transmission demonstrated(DVD in 1.25 sec, 2307 TV channels, 1875 × DSL16000)

Cryo LNAs for Allen Telescope Array

§ Integrated antenna frontend and

cryogenic cooling system

§ Operating temperature ~ 60 K

§ Balanced 0.5...12 GHz LNA

§ Processing 100 nm mHEMT: IAF

§ Design: Low Noise Factory (Sweden)

§ Packaging: Low Noise Factory

Allen Telescope Array Hat Creek, Cal.

Cryogenic mHEMT

0 50 100 150 200 250 3005060708090

100110120130140150

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

RC

onta

ct (m

m

m),

RSh

eet (

/sqr

)

Temperature

RContact

RSheet

RG

ate

(/m

m)RGate• 100 nm mHEMT devices

• reduced gate resistance

• reduced sheet resistance

• slightly increased contact resistance

Cryogenic 16 – 26 GHz LNA

15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 270

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Noi

se T

empe

ratu

re (K

)

Frequency (GHz)

Gai

n (d

B)

Gain

Noise

T = 20 K• Hybrid 3-stage 16 – 26 GHz LNA

(Yebes)

• first stage 100 nm 4 x 40 µm mHEMT

• noise temperature comparable with

InP

• 12 K Noise temperature @ 22 GHz

Cryogenic 4 – 8 GHz LNA

3 4 5 6 7 8 90123456789

10

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Noi

se T

empe

ratu

re (K

)

Frequency (GHz)

Gai

n (d

B)

T = 10 K

Gain

Noise• Hybrid 4 – 8 GHz LNA (Chalmers)

• first stage 100 nm 4 x 40 µm mHEMT

• 3 K noise temperature @ 5 GHz

Allen Telescope Array

Source: MTT-S 2005 WorkshopVery Large Microwave Arrays for Radio Astronomy and Space Communications

• Project of SETI Institute and UC Berkeley

• Location: Hat Creek, California

• Design: 350 antennas with 6.1m

Outline:

§mHEMT

§MMICs

§Modules

§Systems

§Application

Millimeter-Wave Integrated Circuits Enable Innovative Applications

Life sciencesClimate research

Earth observationCommunication

Security and safety