Optically controlled characteristics of a new heterojunction field effect transistor

Abstract

A new heterojunction field effect transistor has been proposed and studied analytically to investigate its suitability as a high speed optical detector. The characteristics of the device have been studied in the dark as well as in the illuminated conditions. In the new structure the Schottky gate of a typical high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) has been replaced by a junction gate in order to facilitate the absorption of optical radiation. The performance of the new device has been compared with that of the existing HEMT structure for similar application. It is seen that the absorption of optical radiation of suitable wavelength in the larger bandgap material results into conductivity modulation of the channel giving rise to a considerable change in the saturation drain current in illuminated conditions. This enables the device to respond to an intensity modulated optical signal. It has further been observed that due to an increased optical absorption region the modified structure shows a much better optical sensitivity than the existing one.