GaAs MMIC reliability studies

Three types of GaAs monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) were RF high temperature accelerated life tested to determine the median time before failure (MTBF). Life testing was performed under the d.c. bias conditions and RF input power levels the MMICs would be expected to use under actual operating conditions. the accelleration condition was to raise the base-plate temperature high enough to result in degradation in approximately 1000 hours at the highest test temperature. Because the MMICs were designed for power applications, the input signal level was large enough to cause approximately 1 dB compression. Device failure was defined as a 20 per cent decrease in output power as measured at 125°C, or room temperature when the temperature control system was turned off. Under these conditions the MTBF extrapolated to a channel temperature of 125°C varied between 8 × 10³ hours and 2 × 10⁵ hours depending on the MMIC type. The primary failure mode appeared to be surface leakage currents under the passivation layer.     

Design and performance of a 60-GHz multi-chip module receiver employing substrate integrated waveguides

The design, fabrication and performance of a 60-GHz multi-chip module receiver employing a substrate integrated waveguide filter and antenna are presented. The receiver is integrated onto a single multilayer substrate, fabricated using photoimageable thick-film technology. The module incorporates a GaAs monolithic microwave integrated circuit low-noise amplifier and downconverter, with lumped elements for intermediate frequency (IF) filtering embedded into the substrate. The chip cavities for mounting of the MMICs are photo-imaged as part of the standard process, giving precise dimensional control for short bond-wire lengths. The complete module including integrated antenna measures only 22.5 mm x 5.4 mm x 0.3 mm and works from 58 to 64 GHz.     

Reliability testing of polyimides for GaAs MMIC applications

Submission of test components and representative MMICs to an extensive range of environmental and endurance tests has confirmed the suitability of polyimide as a dielectric layer for a high performance, reliable GaAs foundry process. In particular, the ability to withstand 1000 hours of 85 per cent RH, 85°C humidity testing has been demonstrated.     

Josephson semiconductor interface circuit

This paper describes an output interface circuit which allows Josephson circuits to communicate with semiconductor circuits. The circuit combines Josephson and GaAs drivers to drive a 50 μ load at a signal level of semiconductor circuits. The output voltage of 2.8 mV (usual for Josephson gates using Nb/AlO_x/Nb junctions) was increased to 1.7 V. The interface circuit has been operated up to 800 MHz.     

Highly Sensitive Humidity Sensor Using Pd/Porous GaAs Schottky Contact

This paper investigates the suitability of porous GaAs as a semiconductor material for sensing humidity. The authors have developed two types of sensors based on Pd/porous GaAs and Pd/GaAs Schottky contacts for humidity measurements. It was found that the porosity on GaAs wafer promoted the sensing properties of the contact used as highly sensitive humidity sensor toward different amounts of relative humidity operated at room temperature. On the contrary, the Pd/GaAs sample operated at room temperature exhibited negligible sensitivity to relative humidity. The advantages of using porous GaAs for Schottky humidity sensor are the following: high sensitivity, low response time, and insignificant dependence on temperature. Current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of the Pd/porous GaAs Schottky humidity sensor exhibited a saturation current value of 8.5times10^-10 A under dry condition (5% relative humidity). This was increased to 7.0times10^-9 A when submitted to a relative humidity of 25%. The saturation current was further increased considerably to 3.0times10^-7 A as the relative humidity was increased to 95%. This is more than two orders of magnitude increase in saturation current compared to dry condition. A parameter called humidity sensitivity was defined using the current value at a fixed forward voltage of 0.2 V to present the sensitivity of the sensor. Response times are reported to discuss the adsorption and desorption characteristics of the device. Pd/porous GaAs sensor operated at room temperature showed a fast response time of 2 s and a sensitivity value of 93.5% in the presence of 25% relative humidity. Furthermore, the influence of increase in relative humidity as well as heating effects on the responsivity of the sensor is described. Scanning electron microscopy analysis of the Pd/porous GaAs sample exhibited highly porous structures     

Fault detection in CMOS circuits by consumption measurement

Some testing problems in CMOS circuits are presented, including stuck-open and stuck-on faults, bridging faults, and excessive leakage in dynamic CMOS circuits. It is shown that the current consumption of a faulty CMOS circuit is several orders of magnitude greater than that of the fault-free circuit: hence, consumption measurement may be a suitable way of testing. Test by consumption measurement provides improved controllability and observability of some faults in comparison with the logic test     

The cryogenic multiplexer and shift register for submillimeter-wave digital camera

We have been developing cryogenic readout integrate circuits using SONY GaAs JFETs for large format arrays of high impedance type detectors especially for submillimeter/terahertz astronomy. The GaAs JFETs manufactured by SONY CO. Ltd have excellent static properties at less than 1 K. Besides, these JFETs have good performance for electrical switches; they have very low gate capacitance (<50 fF), low on resistance (∼10 kΩ), and high off resistance (>100 TΩ). To realize a cryogenic readout system for submillimeter-wave/terahertz camera, we designed multiplexers with sample-and-holds and shift registers. We report the first test results of each circuit and show prospect of a cryogenic multiplex system for a submillimeter-wave/terahertz digital camera.     

Long‐term Reliability Prediction of 935 nm LEDs Using Failure Laws and Low Acceleration Factor Ageing Tests

Numerous papers have already reported various results on electrical and optical performances of GaAs‐based materials for optoelectronic applications. Other papers have proposed some methodologies for a classical estimation of reliability of GaAs compounds using life testing methods on a few thousand samples over 10 000 hours of testing. In contrast, fewer papers have studied the complete relation between degradation laws in relation to failure mechanisms and the estimation of lifetime distribution using accelerated ageing tests considering a short test duration, low acceleration factor and analytical extrapolation. In this paper, we report the results for commercial InGaAs/GaAs 935 nm packaged light emitting diodes (LEDs) using electrical and optical measurements versus ageing time. Cumulative failure distributions are calculated using degradation laws and process distribution data of optical power. A complete methodology is described proposing an accurate reliability model from experimental determination of the failure mechanisms (defect diffusion) for this technology. Electrical and optical characterizations are used with temperature dependence, short‐duration accelerated tests (less than 1500 h) with an increase in bias current (up to 50%), a small number of samples (less than 20) and weak acceleration factors (up to 240). Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Epitaxial growth of Ni films sputter-deposited on a GaAs(001) surface covered with a MgO film

We studied the epitaxial growth of a Ni film prepared on a GaAs(001) substrate covered with a thin epitaxial MgO buffer film, assuming that this buffer film plays a key role in the epitaxial growth of the Ni film. The MgO and Ni films were deposited by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering of the MgO and Ni targets in pure Ar gas. First, a MgO film of thickness ranging from 78 to 4.4 nm was deposited on the GaAs(001) substrate at a temperature ranging from ambient temperature to 700 °C, and then, a 136-nm-thick Ni film was deposited on the MgO/GaAs substrate at a temperature range 300-500 °C. Using transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffractometry, we showed that the MgO film grows with the epitaxial relationship MgO(001)[001]//GaAs(001)[001] on GaAs(001) at 500 °C, and that the structure of the Ni film depends on three factors: the MgO/GaAs substrate temperature, the MgO thickness, and the annealing condition of the MgO/GaAs substrate before the Ni deposition. In conclusion, we proved that the Ni film grows with the epitaxial relationship Ni(001)[001]//MgO(001)[001]//GaAs(001)[001] on MgO/GaAs with the 4.4-nm-thick MgO film when the MgO/GaAs substrate is annealed in situ at room temperature before the Ni deposition and maintained at 300 °C during the Ni deposition.     

GZ-10型高精度数字式表面电阻测试仪的研制

静电火花是煤矿、加气站等有危险气体场所发生爆炸的主要点火源之一。为防止静电火花产生,关键是设备和材料必须具有抗静电性能,而评价聚合物制品抗静电性能的主要方法是用表面电阻测试仪测量其表面电阻。本文介绍了研制的新型GZ-10型高精度数字式表面电阻测试仪的系统组成及硬件设计。该表面电阻测试仪采用低阻档和高阻档两组测试电路,高阻档测试电路测量双取样电阻的电压,低阻档电路采用比例法,克服了普通表面电阻测试仪因被测电压或电流的变化而变化的缺点,保证了测量的准确性。     

Gallium arsenide deep-level optical emitter for fibre optics

Fibre-optic components fabricated on the same substrate as integrated circuits are important for future high-speed communications. One industry response has been the costly push to develop indium phosphide (InP) electronics. However, for fabrication simplicity, reliability and cost, gallium arsenide (GaAs) remains the established technology for integrated optoelectronics. Unfortunately, the GaAs bandgap wavelength (0.85 microm) is far too short for fibre optics at 1.3-1.5 microm. This has led to work on materials that have a large lattice mismatch on GaAs. Here we demonstrate the first light-emitting diode (LED) that emits at 1.5 microm fibre-optic wavelengths in GaAs using optical transitions from arsenic antisite (As(Ga)) deep levels. This is an enabling technology for fibre-optic components that are lattice-matched to GaAs integrated circuits. We present experimental results showing significant internal optical power (24 mW) and speed (in terahertz) from GaAs optical emitters using deep-level transitions. Finally, we present theory showing the ultimate limit to the efficiency-bandwidth product of semiconductor deep-level optical emitters.     

Shape control of InGaAs nanostructures on nominal GaAs(001): dashes and dots

A method for fabricating self-assembled InGaAs quantum dashes on a nominal GaAs(001) substrate is presented. InGaAs layers were grown on nominal GaAs(001) substrates at a low temperature to suppress the Stranski-Krastanov transition as well as indium segregation and indium desorption, then annealed at high temperatures to induce self-assembly. While typical direct growth at the annealing temperature has yielded only quantum dot shapes, our approach has enabled us to control the shape of self-assembled nanostructures from quantum dashes to quantum dots and eventually quantum dot-chains. The major factor controlling the shape of InGaAs nanostructures was found to be the thickness of the pseudomorphic In(0.4)Ga(0.6)As layer.     

一种新型环保低温制冷系统

提出了一种采用氨做制冷剂、可用于获得低至．60℃低温的新型制冷系统,为我国低温冷库的建设提供了一条新型环保技术路线。该制冷系统具有两个蒸发温度回路,高温回路的蒸发温度在-35- -28℃之间可调,低温回路的蒸发温度在．50- -65℃之间可调。两个回路在低压循环桶处汇合。在对该系统进行热力计算的基础上,分析了系统的特点及应用中需要解决的问题。该制冷系统可在新建、改建或扩建．50- -60℃的低温库中采用。     

Reliability of plastic-encapsulated logic circuits

Families of plastic-encapsulated logic circuits have been subjected to a qualification procedure. The aim was to qualify them for use in telecommunication equipment in a central office environment. The qualification was based on a large number of reliability tests performed by the Ericsson failure analysis laboratory and by the vendors themselves. Reliability monitoring data from the testing of more than 150,000 devices during the period 1984 to 1985 have been analysed. Life tests, such as ‘high temperature operating life’, ‘high humidity operating life’, and temperature cycling have been performed. A comparison between life-test data and field data from telephone exchanges in service has also been made. An average activation energy of 0.5 eV has been shown to be useful in such a comparison for the best LS vendors and 0.3 eV for the best HCMOS vendors.     

A highly accurate, hand-held clamp-on current transformer

The design, operation, and performance of a 1000:5 A highly accurate, hand-held, clamp-on-type current transformer are presented. This precision current transformer uses a sensitive magnetic circuit to detect transformer ampere-turn unbalance between the primary and secondary circuits. The unbalance represents an error in the ratio and phase angle of the transformer. The largest of the errors is due to the core magnetization current and magnetic reluctance caused by the cutting of the core material. After sensing the errors, electronic feedback through a magnetic circuit is used to provide an error-correcting current. This reduces the overall errors dramatically. These types of devices are referred to as “active” current transformers because of the use of electronic amplifier and feedback circuits. The device described has a novel feature of an openable, split core. This “clamp-on” capability enables use of the transformer on a bus or cable without the complications or need to open the current-carrying circuit to be measured. Commonly used “clamp-on”-type current transformers generally have uncertainties from about 1 to 5% at full-scale rated current. This paper describes a commercialization of active current transformers having a ratio uncertainty of less than ±0.05% over a current range from full-scale rated to 1% of full-scale. Additionally, this product has a small phase angle which is an important consideration when measuring electric power, energy, and power factor. It is intended to be used by electric utilities, standards laboratories, testing laboratories, and in applications where high measurement accuracy and the split-core, clamp-on feature are attractive considerations     

High quality GaAs nanowires grown on glass substrates

We report for the first time the growth of GaAs nanowires directly on low-cost glass substrates using atmospheric pressure metal organic vapor phase epitaxy via a vapor-liquid-solid mechanism with gold as catalyst. Substrates used in this work were of float glass type typically seen in household window glasses. Growth of GaAs nanowires on glass were investigated for growth temperatures between 410 and 580 °C. Perfectly cylindrical nontapered nanowires with a growth rate of ~33 nm/s were observed at growth temperatures of 450 and 470 °C, whereas highly tapered pillar-like wires were observed at 580 °C. Nanowires grew horizontally on the glass surface at 410 °C with a tendency to grow in vertically from the substrate as the growth temperature was increased. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy revealed that the nanowires have a perfect zinc blende structure with no planar structural defects or stacking faults. Strong photoluminescence emission was observed both at low temperature and room temperature indicating a high optical quality of GaAs nanowires. Growth comparison on impurity free fused silica substrate suggests unintentional doping of the nanowires from the glass substrate.     

A Testing Approach for MOS Circuit Using Single-Photon Detectors Under High Magnetic Fields

The MOS circuits must be tested thoroughly for insuring the reliability. A new testing approach for MOS circuits is presented in this paper, which makes use of single-photon detectors and high magnetic fields. If there are faults in the circuit under test, the photon emission from the circuit components is detected by a single-photon detector, the faults are located by the amount of the emitted photons. The following two techniques are proposed in this paper. First, the high magnetic field is applied to the circuit under test, i.e., the circuit is put in high magnetic field environment. To some extent this technique can solve the problem that some faults have poor strengths of emitted photons under general environment. Second, the special circuit input vectors are designed by using binary decision diagrams. The input vectors can make the positions of circuit components to produce signal transitions or switching behaviors, therefore the photon emission strengths of circuit components are enhanced. A lot of experimental results show that the faults in MOS circuits can be tested accurately by the approach proposed in this paper.     

A translinear RMS detector for embedded test of RF ICs

This paper presents a wide-bandwidth, high dynamic range, BiCMOS RF rms detector based on the dynamic translinear principle. A current-domain circuit carries out the main computation, and a circuit compensates for errors due to finite transistor gain. Wide-bandwidth input and output circuits allow connecting voltage-mode signals to the internal current-mode circuitry. Measurements on a prototype chip demonstrate that the circuit is suitable for embedded on-chip testing, particularly for "alternative test" of RF circuits.     

四步法制备高质量硅基砷化镓薄膜

为了提高在硅基上外延砷化镓薄膜的质量和实验的可重复性, 我们提出了一种叫做四步生长法的新方法, 该方法是通过在低温成核层和高温外延层中间先后插入低温缓冲层和高温缓冲层实现的。通过此方法, 可以制备出表面具有单畴结构、在强白光下依然光亮如镜、粗糙度低且缺陷少的高质量砷化镓薄膜, 而且此方法的重复性很好。即便没有任何生长后的退火处理, 外延出的1 μm厚砷化镓薄膜在5 μm×5 μm扫描区域内的表面粗糙度只有2.1 nm, 且由X射线双晶衍射测试出的砷化镓(004)峰的半高宽只有210.6 arcsec。     

Enhancement of Temperature Sensitivity for Metal–Oxide–Semiconductor (MOS) Tunneling Temperature Sensors by Utilizing Hafnium Oxide (HfO2) Film Added on Silicon Dioxide (SiO2)

In this paper, metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitors fabricated on p-type silicon substrate with hafnium oxide (HfO₂ ) film added on silicon dioxide (SiO₂) were demonstrated as reliable temperature-detecting devices. The saturation current of MOS (p) capacitor with added HfO₂ film is easy to saturate within 0.5 V. From 40 degC to 90degC, each increase of 10degC almost doubles the saturation current. The C-V curves show that the interface properties of Si/SiO₂ and SiO₂/HfO ₂ are good. It was also shown that these devices are reliable even though they had been electrically stressed at various temperatures (30degC~90degC) for 15 000 s. They have the potential to be integrated into the circuits as temperature detectors in the era of ultralarge-scale-integration technology