Accelerated aging and long-term reliability study of ion-implanted GaAs MMIC IF amplifier

The results of reliability testing of ion-implanted GaAs monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) IF amplifiers (IFA) fabricated on 3-in chromium-doped GaAs LEC substrates are presented. Three accelerated aging tests and one long-term life test performed on more than 200 IFAs and totaling 13000 h have been completed. The predicted failure rate is less than 150 FITs for an operating temperature of 125 degrees C. The mean time to failure (MTTF) is 10/sup 7/ h with an activation energy of 1.9 eV. The principle failure modes are degradation of IFA bias current and RF gain. Preliminary failure analysis indicates that degradation results from an increase in FET channel resistance and reduced transconductance.<
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