Simulation of Drastic Lag Phenomena in GaAs-Based FETs for Large Voltage Swing

Turn-on characteristics of GaAs MESFETs and HEMTs are simulated when the gate voltage is changed abruptly. The gate-lag or slow current transient becomes more pronounced when the off-state gate voltage is more negative, because the surface-state effects or substrate-trap effects become more significant. Changes of I–V curves of GaAs MESFETs, when the drain voltage is swept with different speeds, are also simulated. When the swept time is short, the curve shows overshoot-like behavior and the kink disappears, indicating that the I–V characteristics should be quite different between DC and RF conditions.