Dual functional distribution of failure in GaAs multichip microwave monolithic integrated circuits (MMICs)

Author

Christou, Aris ; Tang, Pin F. ; Hu, Jun Ming

Author_Institution

Maryland Univ., College Park, MD, USA

Volume

39

Issue

10

fYear

1992

fDate

10/1/1992 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

2229

Lastpage

2234

Abstract

A definitive separation of bimodal failure distribution functions for MMICs has been obtained as a result of microwave accelerated life testing. The circuit, a 2-8-GHz monolithic amplifier, showed a very strong early failure pattern related only to passive component degradation. Using the concept of multifunctional distribution it was possible to separate the early failure pattern and to relate it to degradation of the off-chip capacitors. The main failure distribution was related to gate and ohmic contact electromigration of the MMIC active components. When the data analysis includes the early failures, a mean time to failure (MTTF) of less than 1×10⁵ is obtained

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; MMIC; circuit reliability; failure analysis; gallium arsenide; integrated circuit testing; life testing; 2 to 8 GHz; GaAs; MMIC active components; MTTF; SHF; bimodal failure distribution functions; dual functional distribution; early failure pattern; electromigration; mean time to failure; microwave accelerated life testing; microwave monolithic integrated circuits; monolithic amplifier; multichip MMIC; multifunctional distribution; off-chip capacitors; ohmic contact; passive component degradation; Capacitors; Circuits; Degradation; Distribution functions; Electromigration; Gallium arsenide; Life estimation; Life testing; MMICs; Ohmic contacts;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Devices, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9383

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/16.158792

Filename

158792