Wiley-Blackwell Reliability of Gallium Arsenide MMIC′s (Paper)

Monolithic microwave integrated circuits are totally integrated structures which contain planar transmission lines, distributed elements and active devices on the same substrate. The discussions in the chapters are related to MMICs which operate in the frequency range of 1 to 20 GHz, and for MMICs which may operate even up to 94 GHz due to the incorporation of advanced structures such as High Electron Mobility Transistors. Such MMICs are applied in telecommunication systems, in TV receivers for satellite broadcasting, and in radar and navigation systems. Reliability stands for the complicated circuit performance related to specifications, stability and ultimately catastrophic failure. The book therefore focuses on the physical, chemical and electrical mechanisms which cause circuit drift, inaccuracies and degradation of circuit function. The definition of reliability must be directly related to the type of circuit, and circuit specification, in addition to manufacturing science and fault detection. Chapter 1 reviews the MMIC performance and reliability levels and therefore presents to the student and reader the basic reliability levels of presently available circuits. Chapters 2 and 3 discuss, first, the reliability aspects related to product design, general failure mechanisms and testing concerns. The practical aspects of reliability testing are then presented so that the reader may outline similar reliability investigations. Various computer aided techniques for MMIC finite element analysis are discussed in Chapter 5, while Chapters 6 and 7 present the most critical failure for field effect transistors and MMICs. The critical aspects of substrate mechanical reliability are included in Chapter 8, while the necessary thermal analysis techniques are reviewed in Chapter 9. The remainder of the book focuses on metallization and packaging reliability.