Ultra-low power microwave CHFET integrated circuit development

Abstract

This report summarizes work on the development of ultra-low power microwave CHFET integrated circuit development. Power consumption of microwave circuits has been reduced by factors of 50-1000 over commercially available circuits. Positive threshold field effect transistors (nJFETs and PHEMTs) have been used to design and fabricate microwave circuits with power levels of 1 milliwatt or less. 0.7 pm gate nJFETs are suitable for both digital CHFET integrated circuits as well as low power microwave circuits. Both hybrid amplifiers and MMlCs were demonstrated at the 1 mW level at 2.4 GHz. Advanced devices were also developed and characterized for even lower power levels. Amplifiers with 0.3 pm JFETs were simulated with 8-10 dB gain down to power levels of 250 microwatts (pW). However 0.25 pm PHEMTs proved superior to the JFETs with amplifier gain of 8 dB at 217 MHz and 50 pW power levels but they are not integrable with the digital CHFET technology.