Hot Carrier Effect on Power Performance in GaAs PHEMT MMIC Power Amplifiers

This paper describes hot electron effects on power performance of GaAs PHEMT MMIC power amplifiers (PAs). Hot electrons are generated in PAs under RF-drive at room temperature. A long-term lifetest of PAs under high hot electron stress was performed to investigate the effect of hot-carrier-induced degradation (HCID) on power performance. Accordingly, an empirical model was developed to predict the power performance of V-band PA modules by the end of life (EOL). This information is crucial for system engineers in order to budget sufficient output power so that system can still maintain performance capability by the EOL.