III-nitride microwave control devices and ICs

The growing complexity and functionality of modern microwave systems put increasing demands on the performance and reliability of RF control devices. Low channel sheet resistance in the on-state and small leakage currents in the off-state, extremely high breakdown voltages, chemical inertness and planar structure make III-nitride heterostructure-based devices uniquely suitable for the next-generation switching devices. The AlInN-based devices and devices using low-conducting layers for controlling surface field and surface charges are expected to further boost the performance. This paper presents a review of III-nitride control devices based on heterostructure field-effect transistors (HFETs), insulated gate HFETs (MISHFETs) and novel capacitively coupled contact and frequency configurable electronics technologies.