GaN Non-Volatile RF Switch Based on Bipolar Charge Trapping for Reconfigurable RF FEMs

This work demonstrates GaN-based non-volatile RF switches, implemented on a mature p-GaN/AlGaN/GaN-on-Si platform. The reconfigurable RF switch can be programmed to ON/OFF-state through efficient bipolar charge trapping at the dielectric/p-GaN interface with minimal write energy. Leveraging deep interface trap states within wide bandgap of GaN, the switch maintains ON/OFF-state with no gate bias required, achieving zero static energy consumption. The device exhibits a wide threshold-voltage tuning range of 6.5 V and robust retention of insertion loss (IL) and isolation (ISO) for over 10,000 s. A device with 200-µm gate width and 5.8-µm drain-to-source distance delivers 3.2-dB IL and 15.6-dB ISO at 5 GHz. The large threshold-voltage tuning range, together with the three-terminal topology with isolated gate control, mitigates RF-signal-induced state disturbance, achieving a 1-dB compression point of up to 30 dBm. This innovative solution, combining low energy consumption with high-power capabilities, offers a promising path for 5G/6G reconfigurable RF FEMs.