Title :
Accelerated life testing and failure analysis of single stage MMIC amplifiers
Author :
Christianson, Keith A. ; Roussos, Jason A. ; Anderson, Wallace T.
Author_Institution :
Naval Res. Lab., Washington, DC, USA
fDate :
8/1/1994 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
Single stage monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) amplifiers have been high temperature accelerated life tested under DC+RF biasing conditions. Most of the circuits failed parametrically due to a gradual decrease in RF output power. Failure analysis revealed localized reduction of the gate breakdown characteristics of the metal semiconductor field effect transistor (MESFET). This was occurring through degradation of the GaAs surface Si3N4 passivation layer interface in the channel region of the MESFET, resulting in a reduction in the number of surface states. The few catastrophically failed MMIC´s are believed to represent a special case of this degradation process which occurred very rapidly. In contrast to the transistor, the other components of the circuits were unchanged following life test
Keywords :
MMIC; circuit reliability; electric breakdown of solids; failure analysis; field effect integrated circuits; integrated circuit testing; life testing; microwave amplifiers; microwave measurement; passivation; 2 to 18 GHz; DC biasing conditions; GaAs-Si3N4; MESFET; RF biasing conditions; Si3N4 passivation layer; accelerated life testing; channel region; degradation process; failure analysis; gate breakdown characteristics; high temperature; monolithic microwave integrated circuit; single stage MMIC amplifiers; surface states reduction; Circuit testing; Degradation; Failure analysis; Field effect MMICs; Life estimation; Life testing; MESFETs; Microwave FET integrated circuits; Microwave integrated circuits; Monolithic integrated circuits;
Journal_Title :
Electron Devices, IEEE Transactions on
