Re-Examining TID Hardness Assurance Test Protocols for SiGe HBTs

Author

Cheng, Peng ; Pellish, Jonathan A. ; Carts, Martin A. ; Phillips, Stanley ; Wilcox, Edward ; Thrivikraman, Tushar ; Najafizadeh, Laleh ; Cressler, John D. ; Marshall, Paul W.

Author_Institution

Sch. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Georgia Inst. of Technol., Atlanta, GA, USA

Volume

56

Issue

6

fYear

2009

Firstpage

3318

Lastpage

3325

Abstract

We investigate the applicability of current total ionizing dose (TID) test protocols in the context of advanced transistor technologies such as Silicon-Germanium heterojunction bipolar transistors(SiGe HBTs). In SiGe HBTs, an unexpected shift in collector current is observed during total dose irradiation. Using both device and circuit measurements, we investigate this phenomenon and assess its potential importance in hardness assurance of SiGe components. TCAD simulations were performed to explain the observed current shifts.

Keywords

CMOS integrated circuits; Ge-Si alloys; hardness; heterojunction bipolar transistors; radiation hardening (electronics); semiconductor device measurement; semiconductor device models; technology CAD (electronics); BiCMOS circuit measurement; HBT; SiGe; TCAD simulations; collector current; current total ionizing dose; hardness assurance test protocols; silicon-germanium heterojunction bipolar transistors; total dose irradiation; Aerospace testing; Circuit testing; Degradation; Electronic equipment testing; Germanium silicon alloys; Heterojunction bipolar transistors; NASA; Protocols; Silicon germanium; Space technology; Anneal; BGR; Gummel; Silicon-Germanium heterojunction bipolar transistors (SiGe HBTs); dose rate; gamma; phase-shifter; proton;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9499

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TNS.2009.2032857

Filename

5341384