Roger S. Tsai

0.1 /spl mu/m InGaAs/InAlAs/InP HEMT MMICs - a flight qualified technology

0.1 /spl mu/m InGaAs/InAlAs/InP HEMT MMIC technology on 3- inch InP substrates has been qualified in the categories of three-temperature lifetest, gamma radiation, RF survivability, electrostatic discharge, via-hole baking, and H/sub 2/ poisoning. The three-temperature lifetest (T/sub 1/ = 215/spl deg/C, T/sub 2/ = 230/spl deg/C and T/sub 3/ = 250/spl deg/C) of 0.1 /spl mu/m InGaAs/InAlAs/InP HEMT MMICs in a N/sub 2/ ambient demonstrates an activation energy (Ea) as high as 1.9 eV, achieving a projected median-time-to-failure (MTF) /spl ap/ 1/spl times/10/sup 8/ hours at a 125/spl deg/C junction temperature. Gamma radiation up to 5 mega RAD dose does not induce any degradation of DC/RF characteristics. Electrostatic discharge (ESD) shows destructive voltage up to 100 Volts. Furthermore, 0.1 /spl mu/m InP HEMTs exhibit less sensitivity to H/sub 2/ exposure than 0.1 /spl mu/m GaAs pseudomorphic HEMTs. The qualification results demonstrate the readiness of 0.1 /spl mu/m InGaAs/InAlAs/InP MMICs technology for flight applications.

High performance voltage controlled bi-directional amplifiers in support of component reuse for large aperture phase array

The objective of this paper is to provide a novel and innovative solution to reduce the projected high parts count for large aperture phase array (>100,000 elements). Bi-directional amplifiers are ideal for this application since RF amplification, in either transmit or receive directions, are controlled through bias thus eliminating the need for lossy switches that degrades the system noise figure performance, In addition, the size, weight, and cost of the transceiver module can be greatly reduced since only one amplifier is required Two bidirectional amplifiers are presented here in both common. gate and common-source configurations.

High reliability of 0.07 /spl mu/m pseudomorphic InGaAs/InAlAs/InP HEMT MMICs on 3-inch InP substrates

The high-reliability performance of G-band (180 GHz) MMIC amplifiers fabricated using 0.07 pm T-gate pseudomorphic InGaAs/InAlAs/InP HEMTs on 3-inch wafers is reported. Low noise amplifiers were life-tested at two-temperatures (T/sub 1/ = 200/spl deg/C and T/sub 2/ = 215/spl deg/C) and stressed at V/sub ds/ of 1 V and I/sub ds/ of 250 mA/mm in a N/sub 2/ ambient. The activation energy is as high as 1.7 eV, achieving a projected median-time-to-failure (MTTF) /spl ap/ 2/spl times/10/sup 6/ hours at a channel temperature of 125/spl deg/C. MTTF was determined by 2-temperature constant current stress using |/spl Delta/G/sub mp/| > 20% as the failure criteria. This is the first demonstration of the high reliability of 0.07 /spl mu/m pseudomorphic InGaAs/InAlAs/InP HEMT MMICs on a 3-inch InP production process. This result demonstrates a robust 0.07 /spl mu/m pseudomorphic InGaAs/InAlAs/InP HEMT production technology for G-band applications.

Survivability of InP HEMT devices and MMICs under high RF input drive

We have investigated the survivability of our 0.1- and 0.15-/spl mu/m InP HEMT devices and MMIC amplifiers under high input RF drive levels. Input destruction powers as high as 22 and 26 dBm were observed for the 0.1- and 0.15-/spl mu/m MMIC amplifiers, respectively. These results shows that InP HEMT is suitable for many applications even where high survivability levels are required. Analytical analysis and harmonic balanced nonlinear simulations suggest that device destruction be due to large drain-gate voltage swing that exceeds the breakdown voltage under high RF drives. The survivability of an MMIC amplifier depends on its impedance matching and can be improved by using large devices.

High reliability performance of 0.1-μm Pt-sunken gate InP HEMT low-noise amplifiers on 100 mm InP substrates

Accelerated temperature lifetesting at T<inf>channel</inf> of 240, 255, and 270 °C was performed on 0.1-μm Pt-sunken InP HEMT low-noise amplifiers fabricated on 100 mm InP substrates. The reliability performance was evaluated based on ΔS21 < −1 dB at 35 GHz. The lifetesting results exhibit activation energy of approximately 1.8 eV and lifetime projection of 99% reliability and 90% confidence exceeds 1×10⁸ hours at T<inf>channel</inf> of 125 °C. The high reliability demonstration of 0.1-μm Pt-sunken gate InP HEMT low-noise amplifiers on 100 mm InP substrates is essential for advanced military/space applications requiring high reliability performance.

0.07 um InP HEMT MMIC Technology for G-band Power Amplifiers

We present a state-of-the art 0.07 um T-gate InP HEMT MMIC power amplifier at G-band frequencies. The fixtured amplifier MMIC exhibits greater than 20 mW output power at 175-191 GHz with a peak power of 25 mW output power at 184 GHz. The power density of the output stage is greater than 150 mW/mm and power added efficiency was 9.5%. We believe this represents the highest combination of output power at the highest frequency band ever reported for a solid state amplifier MMIC.

0.1 /spl mu/m enhancement-mode pseudomorphic InGaAs/InAlAs/InP HEMT

We present state-of-the-art performance of 0.1 /spl mu/m enhancement-mode (E-mode) pseudomorphic InGaAs/InAlAs/InP HEMTs fabricated on 3-inch wafers in a production environment. The E-mode HEMTs have a cutoff frequency of 210 GHz, transconductance of 1180 mS/mm, and less than 1 mA/mm Idss (drain current at a gate bias of zero volts), measured at a drain bias of 1 V. The device characteristics make the E-mode HEMTs suitable candidates for ultra-high-speed digital and analog applications. Low noise amplifiers utilizing E-mode HEMTs, which were fabricated on 3-inch wafers in TRWs InP production line, demonstrated excellent repeatability, performance, yield and uniformity.