GAas technology for high frequency components

Technologies were developed for the production of large numbers of varactor diodes and smaller quantities of dual gate MESFETS for the UHF band. Research concentrated on vapor phase epitaxy and ion implantation techniques, the development of temperature stable Schottky contacts, and on surface passivation problems. The performance of the GaAs varactor diodes and MESFETS was compared with silicon varactors and MOS tetrodes, showing the expected advantages of GaAs devices. The GaAs varactor diodes have a series resistance of under 300 milli-ohms for a linear tuning characteristic between -3 and -15 V in an appropriate circuit. Dual gate MESFETS fabricated on implanted material, using vapor phase epitaxy, have a gate length of 1.5 micrometers, a gain bandwidth product of 5 GHz, and a minimum noise figure of 1.6 dB at 1 GHz.