The gate length of GaAs MESFETs is required to be shorter for higher microwave frequency applications. The side-wall process using silicon nitride is one of the effective processes to fabricate short gate length GaAs MESFETs. The side-wall process consists of deposition and anisotropic etching of silicon nitride and delivers plasma induced damages on the channel layers of the devices. In this study, the effects of plasma induced damage on the channel layers of ion implanted GaAs MESFETs during reactive ion etching and plasma ashing processes have been investigated. The plasma induced damage was characterized by sheet resistance measurement, Xray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) and auger electron spectroscopy(AES) of different etched surfaces, compared with a chemically wet-etched reference surface. Also the effect of the plasma induced damage on the device performance was investigated. As a result, plasma ashing can deteriorate the plasma-induced damage by RIE.

Ba0.6Sr0.4(YTa)yTi1-2yO3 has been shown to have properties which are promising for tunable applications requiring low dielectric constant [1]. Ba0.6Sr0.4(YTa)yTi1-2yO3 with y ≤ 0.10 has been synthesized and well-characterized using x-ray diffraction, EDAX, and Raman Spectroscopy. The dependence of the dielectric properties on concentration, y, of Y and Ta are discussed along with implications for improved performance in device applications.

The NASA Glenn Research Center is constructing a 616 element scanning phased array antenna using thin film BaxSr1-xTiO3 based phase shifters. A critical milestone is the production of 616 identical phase shifters at 19 GHz with ≈4 dB insertion loss and at least 337.5° phase shift with 3 percent bandwidth. It is well known that there is a direct relationship between dielectric tuning and loss due to the Kramers-Kronig relationship and that film crystallinity and strain, affected by the substrate template, play an important role. Ba0.50Sr0.50TiO3 films, nominally 400 nm thick, were deposited on 48 0.25 mm thick, 5 cm diameter LaAlO3 wafers. Although previous results suggested that Mn-doped films on MgO were intrinsically superior in terms of phase shift per unit loss, for this application phase shift per unit length was more important. The composition was selected as a compromise between tuning and loss for room temperature operation (e.g. crystallinity progressively degrades for Ba concentrations in excess of 30 percent). As a prelude to fabricating the array, it was necessary to process, screen, and inventory a large number of samples. Variable angle ellipsometry was used to characterize refractive index and film thickness across each wafer. Microstructural properties of the thin films were characterized using high resolution X-ray diffractometry. Finally, prototype phase shifters and resonators were patterned on each wafer and RF probed to measure tuning as a function of dc bias voltage as well as peak (0 field) permittivity and unloaded Q. The relationship among film quality and uniformity and performance is analyzed. This work presents the first statistically relevant study of film quality and microwave performance and represents a milestone towards commercialization of thin ferroelectric films for microwave applications.

Electrically tunable microwave phase shifter was developed by inserting dielectric slab and piezoelectric actuator inside a waveguide. Air-dielectric sandwich structure of dielectric material and thin air gap was placed inside a waveguide, where the thickness of air gap is controlled by the actuator. Small changes in the ratio between the thickness of dielectric material and air gap induce significant changes in the effective dielectric constant of the air-dielectric sandwich structure. Phase shifts of 20∼200 degrees were realized with the dielectric materials such as (Mg, Ca)TiO3 while the thickness of air gap is changed between 0 to 30 μm by piezoelectric control. Since the dielectric ceramics has very small loss (tand ∼ 10-4) and the air gap has practically no loss, the total structure shows low insertion loss.

Highly (100) oriented Ba0.5Sr0.5Ti1-δMnδO3 thin films were deposited on (100) LaAlO3 (LAO) substrate by sol-gel technique. We have studied systematically the effect of Mn doping on the degree of texturing, surface morphology, dielectric properties and phase transition behavior of barium strontium titanate (BST) thin films. Up to 3 at % Mn doping the degree of (100) texturing and grain size of BST (50/50) thin films were markedly improved, which led to an increased tunability from 29% (undoped) to 39% (3 at % Mn doped); measured at 1 MHz and 2.34V/mm bias field. The transition and Curie-Weiss temperatures of BST (50/50) thin films were found to be about 266 K and 185 K respectively, which confirmed the first order phase transition in the films. The variation of transition temperatures as a function of Mn doping contents in BST (50/50) thin films were influenced by the variation of stress state and surface morphology modifications induced by Mn doping. The bias field dependence of the dielectric constant and loss tangents of undoped and Mn doped films were analyzed in terms of a model based on Devonshire theory. Phase shift measurements showed that the degree of phase shift increases from 239° to 337° with 0 to 3 at% Mn doping. The insertion loss also increases from 5.4 dB (undoped) to 9.9 dB (3 at % Mn doped) with doping content so that there is no effective improvement in the k factor, which remains in the range of 33 - 44°/dB. Modification in surface morphology and film stoichiometry induced by Mn doping is thought to play significant role in observed phase shifter characteristics.

In this paper, we have studied on the fabrication of GaAs-based pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistors (PHEMT's) for the purpose of millimeter-wave applications. To fabricate the high performance GaAs-based PHEMT's, we have developed unit processes, such as 0.1 μm Γ-gate lithography, silicon nitride passivation, and air-bridge process to achieve high performance of device characteristics. The DC characteristics of the fabricated PHEMT was measured at a unit gate width of 70 μm and 2 gate fingers, and showed a good pinch-off property (VP = -1 V) and a drain-source saturation current density (Idss) of 373.53 mA/mm. Maximum extrinsic transconductance (gm) was 522.4 mS/mm at Vgs = -0.3 V, Vds = 1.5 V, and Ids = 0.5 Idss. The RF measurements were performed in the frequency range of 1.0 ∼ 50 GHz. For this measurement, the drain and gate voltage were 1.5 V and -0.3 V, respectively. At 50 GHz, 9.2 dB of maximum stable gain (MSG) and 4.2 dB of S21 gain were obtained, respectively. A current gain cut-off frequency (fT) of 113 GHz and a maximum frequency of oscillation (fmax) of 180 GHz were achieved from the fabricated PHEMT with a 0.1 μm gate length.

Thin films were prepared from bulk targets by pulsed-laser deposition techniques. The targets were composed of Ba0.6Sr0.4TiO3 with charge-compensated substitutions for Ti4+. Results of the dielectric characterization measurements will be discussed and compared to the results of similar measurements in bulk materials with the same composition.

BaxSr(1-x)TiO3 films (BST) with x=0.5, 0.6, 0.7, containing 1% W, were grown by pulsed laser deposition on MgO (001) substrates in an oxygen pressure from 3 to 500 mTorr, at a substrate temperature of 720 C. The crystal structure of the film, as determined from x-ray diffraction, was fit to a tetragonal distortion of a cubic lattice having two in-plane lattice parameters. The in and out-of-plane lattice parameters c, a, á, and lattice distortion (a/c and á/c) were calculated from the positions of the measured BST reflections ((004), (024) and (224)). The dielectric properties of the film at 2 GHz were measured using gap capacitors deposited on top of the dielectric film, at room temperature. For all compositions, as a function of the oxygen deposition pressure, a peak in the change in the dielectric constant, as a function of an applied electric field (0 – 80 kV/cm), was observed for films deposited in 50 mTorr of oxygen. Unlike the pure BST, the dielectric Q was insensitive to the oxygen deposition pressure. The largest Kfactor (K=(ε(0)-ε(V)/ε(0) x Q(0)) for films deposited from Ba0.6Sr0.4TiO3 target were observed in a film that had a minimum in-plane strain, where a~á.

Polycrystalline ZnO thin films were deposited on SiO2/Si(100) substrate using RF magnetron sputtering. The film deposition performed in this work was composed of following two procedures; the 1st-deposition for 30 min without oxygen at 100 W and the 2nd-deposition with oxygen in the range O2/(Ar+O2) = 10∼50 %. Deposited ZnO films revealed a strongly c-axis preferred-orientation (the corresponding texture coefficient ∼ 100 %) as well as a high resistivity (> 107 Ωcm). It was also observed that the crystallite size of ZnO was noticeably increased by thermal-annealing.

We devised a measurement method of microwave dielectric constants of dielectric thin films without applying electrodes. The method uses a rectangular waveguide in which the dielectric thin films prepared on a substrate are filled vertically at the center. The frequency dependence of S-parameter measured by network analyzer enables us to calculate the dielectric constant and loss factor of the films at the microwave region through simulation. We prepared Ba0.6Sr0.4TiO3 thin films on (001) MgO single crystal substrate by pulsed laser deposition (PLD), and determined their dielectric constant and loss factor at ∼10GHz using this method.

One of the challenges faced in using ferroelectrics in high frequency devices is how to effectively use the material in a circuit design. A compact reflection-type phase shifter fabricated on sapphire substrates coated with ferroelectric barium strontium titanate (BST) thin-films has been built which shows the promise of using BST thin films in the design of tunable microwave devices. The phase shifter, fabricated as one monolithic assembly, consists of a 3dB coupler, meandered line inductors and tunable interdigital capacitors. A continuously variable phase shift range of more than 100° using the branch-line coupler was obtained at a center frequency of 2.95 GHz, and more than 90° phase shift over 200 MHz bandwidth with a bias voltage range from 0 V to 175 V. The phase shifter using the Lange coupler has over 700 MHz bandwidth centered at 2.2 GHz with a phase shift of more than 90° and an insertion loss less than 2 dB and return loss of greater than 14 dB, over a bias voltage range from 0 V to 160 V. The loss of the BST phase shifter presented in this work is on the order of other commercially available RF front-end components, such as bandpass filters and RF switches. This holds promise for the practical realization of smart antenna systems in cellular handsets and wireless LAN cards.

The effects of anisotropic dielectric properties of ferroelectric Ba1-xSrxTiO3 (BST) films on the characteristics of phase shifter have been studied in microwave regions at room temperature. Ferroelectric BST films with (001) and (011) orientation were epitaxially grown on (001) and (011) MgO substrates, respectively, by pulsed laser deposition method. The structures of BST films were investigated using x-ray diffraction measurement. The microwave properties of orientation engineered BST films were investigated using coplanar waveguide transmission lines that were fabricated on BST films using a thick metal layer by photolithography and etching process. The measured differential phase shift and insertion loss (S21) for (011) BST films are larger than those for (001) BST films. Dielectric constants of the ferroelectric BST films are calculated from the measured S21 using a modified conformal-mapping model.

The dielectric response in artificially layered 1x1 KTaO3/KNbO3 perovskite superlattice structures is reported. While KTaO3 and KNbO3 are ferroelectric or paraelectric, respectively, superlattices appear antiferroelectric based on an increase in dielectric constant with applied dc bias. This “positive tunability” in dielectric response occurs at the same temperature region where a structural phase transition is observed. This dielectric behavior is inconsistent with the nonlinear response for either paraelectric or ferroelectric materials. However, an increase in the dielectric constant with applied electric field is consistent with antiferroelectric behavior. The antiferroelectric ordering correlates with cation modulation imposed by the superlattice.

Y3Fe5O12 (YIG) films have been deposited onto single crystal Gd4Ga5O12(GGG) substrates by publsed laser deposition. For a given set of experimental parameters, the oxygen background pressure and substrate tempetature were optimized to achieve the narrowest ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) lines. The repetition rate was then varied from 10 to 50 Hz. There is a cleasr transition from films with low saturation magnetization 4πMs ≈ 300 Gs, high coercive fields Hc > 20 Oe, and broad FMR lines ΔH > 100 Oe to films with 4πMs ≈ 1400Gs, Hc < 10 Oe, and ΔH ≤ 10 Oe. This crossover occurs when the laser repetition rate is changed from 20 to 30 Hz. No significant differences could be detected in any of the other investigated properties: crystalline structure, cation concentration rastio, amd surface roughness do not depend on the repetition rate. Annealing experiments show that the films deposited at 10 and 20 Hz repetition rate are oxygen deficent. We loaded the film deposited at 20 Hz with oxygen, so that it reached the bulk value for 4πMs. The coercive field, however, remained large.

In the present investigation, an attempt has been made to establish a new chemical route for synthesis of the nanostructured mixed oxide ferrite powders. By using this chemical method a variety of ferrite powders having spinel structure and doped with Co, Ni, Mn, Zn etc has been prepared. In this method nitrate salts of the different metals were used as starting materials. The aqueous solutions of the metal nitrates were mixed according to the molar ration of the compositions. Then the mixtures were mixed with an aqueous solution of water soluble polymer (polyvinyl alcohol). This mixture after drying yield fluffy brown powders. These powders were then calcined at different temperatures ranging from 400 °C to 700 °C. Nanostructured powders were obtained from the thermal decomposition of the brown powders. The powders, prepared by calcinations at different temperatures, were characterized by using X-Ray diffraction analysis, IR spectroscopy, TGA/DTA, and TEM. It was observed that the average particle size of the powders are in nanometer scale with a narrow size distribution. The average particle size of the powders was increased with the increase of calcinations temperature.

This chemical method has proved to provide a convenient process for the preparation of nanostructured ceramic powders at comparatively low temperatures and offers the potential of being a simple and cost-effective route.

The dc and microwave responses of the BaxSr1-x (X,Y)yTi1-yO3 family of ferroelectric compounds with various substitutional additives X3+, Y5+ are analyzed by combining the random-field technique with the mean-field (Landau-Devonshire) theory of ferroelectricity, along with a self-consistent computation of the dielectric constant of the host material in the presence of the impurity fields. The fields in the material are assumed to arise from charge compensation at the Ti4+ sites, leading to permanent dipoles made up of the resulting positive and negative ions separated by a few lattice constants. It is shown that whereas completely random placement of positive and negative ions generates a Holtsmark distribution of electric field, with infinite second moment and hence extremely large fluctuations in field strength, the association of ionized impurities into permanent dipoles leads to much lower fluctuations in field and a distribution with finite second moment, which makes a self-consistent dielectric constant meaningful.

The influence of low concentration (1 mol%) Mg doping on the structural, microstructural, surface morphological and dielectric properties of Ba1-xSrxTiO3 thin films has been measured and analyzed. The films were fabricated on MgO and Pt-Si substrates via the metalorganic solution deposition technique using carboxylate-alkoxide precursors and post deposition annealed at 800 °C (film/MgO substrates) and 750 °C (film/Pt-Si substrates). The structure, microstructure, surface morphology and film/substrate compositional quality were analyzed and correlated to the films dielectric and insulating properties. Dielectric properties of unpatterned films were measured at 10 GHz with a coupled/split dielectric resonator system and at 100 kHz using metal-insulator-metal capacitors. The Mg-doped BST films exhibited improved dielectric loss and insulating characteristics compared to the undoped Ba0.6Sr0.4TiO3 thin films. The improved dielectric properties, low leakage current, and good tunability of the low level Mgdoped BST thin films merit strong potential for utilization in microwave tunable devices.

The ferroelectric (Ba0.6Sr0.4)TiO3 (BST) films were prepared on (001) MgO single crystals by pulsed laser deposition. Coplanar waveguide (CPW) type phase shifters controlled by external dc bias field were fabricated on BST films using a 2 μm thick metal layer to reduce metal loss. Microwave properties of the CPW phase shifter were measured using a HP 8510C vector network analyzer from 0.1 – 20 GHz. The fabricated CPW phase shifters (8 mm long) exhibited differential phase angle of 100 ° at 10 GHz with a dc bias field of less than 80 kV/cm between center and ground conductors. Furthermore, a stable differential phase angle (102 ± 3.5 o) was observed from another CPW while changing the power of incident microwave from -10 to +30 dBm. Gap size dependent dielectric constant of the BST film was observed and a simple correction method was suggested in the paper. These results demonstrate the possible application of ferroelectric tunable devices on a high power tunable wireless telecommunication.

A new process has been developed in Paratek Microwave Inc. to formulate stable tunable (Ba, Sr)TiO3 (BST) based thin film material. Varactors, with a co-planar structure, were fabricated by using the new material. The varactor Q of 105 tested at 2 GHz was observed with average tunability of 58 % at 150V (37.5 V/μm). The lifetime tests indicated that this material is very stable under continuous 100 to 150 V dc bias both at the room temperature and in 70 °C environment. Thus, this novel tunable thin film material opens a new avenue to develop high quality tunable microwave devices. Tunable IF filters have been built by using this novel material for microwave backhaul radios and handset applications. Initial results of a RF phase shifter are also included and demonstrate another application of these films.

AlxGa1-xN sample with x=0.36 was epitaxially grown on sapphire by MOCVD. SAW velocity of 5420 m/s and TCF (temperature coefficient of frequency) of -51.20 ppm/°C were measured from the SAW devices fabricated on the AlxGa1-xN sample, when kh value was 0.078, at temperatures between –30 °C and 60 °C Electromechanical coupling coefficient was ranged from 1.26 % to 2.22 %. The fabricated SAW filter have shown a good device performance with insertion loss of -33.853 dB and side lobe attenuation of 20 dB.