Nonlinear charge control in AlGaAs/GaAs modulation-doped FET's

A new model for nonlinear charge control in normally on modulation-doped field-effect transistors (MODFET's) is proposed. It is shown that conventional charge control models are insufficient to describe MODFET's with large negative pinchoff voltages, and that the depletion approximation is inaccurate in circumstances where the layer dimensions become of the order of a Debye length. The new model is based upon a one-dimensional numerical solution of Poisson's equation and the drift-diffusion equation. It also takes into account the shift in the 2DEG position with gate bias, and parallel conduction in the doped AlGaAs layer. The effect of nonlinear charge control on MODFET transconductance is considered by combining the new model with a two-dimensional analytic representation of the MODFET.