MOCVD growth of high power 0.5 W 35 GHz MMICs

Abstract This paper reports the development of low-cost microwave millimeter integrated circuits (MMIC) devices. This was achieved through the use of multi-wafer MOCVD to reduce the starting material cost, and device fabrication with a tightly controlled process optimized for the epitaxial structure. A 35 GHz, 0.5 W power amplifier MMIC was designed that can be applied in Ka-band wireless applications. MOCVD-grown wafers were fabricated using mask sets based on this design. Completed wafers yielded 5.55×3.2 mm MMIC chips with saturated output power of over 0.50 W at 34 GHz and 0.46 W at 35 GHz. With a further design iteration it is believed that one (1) watt output power could be obtained from the device. During this work it was demonstrated that MOCVD p-HEMT wafers could be used interchangeably with MBE wafers as starting material for MMIC fabrication.