Patent 7915644 was granted and assigned to Cree on March, 2011 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A HEMT comprising an active region comprising a plurality of active semiconductor layers formed on a substrate. Source electrode, drain electrode, and gate are formed in electrical contact with the active region. A spacer layer is formed on at least a portion of a surface of said active region and covering the gate. A field plate is formed on the spacer layer and electrically connected to the source electrode, wherein the field plate reduces the peak operating electric field in the HEMT.