Lifetesting GaAs MMICs under RF stimulus

Very-high-temperature lifetest results on MMIC switches and attenuators are summarized. It was found that individual heating and RF bias resulted in data which indicate that the devices degrade linearly with lognormal failure distributions that compare favorably with historical DC lifetesting of MMIC amplifiers. Electrical measurements indicated MESFET gate degradation was occurring, which was found to be highly accelerated by temperature. It is not expected that this would impede device lifetimes at normal-use conditions for thousands of years.<
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