Reliability analysis of low noise amplifiers for wireless applications under high RF power stressing

A reliability study under high RF power stressing was conducted on two SiGe cascode Low Noise Amplifiers (LNA) using an in-house reliability tool. The first LNA was stressed at 19 dBm of RF power during 600 hours. Obtained results (relative degradation values in dB) showed a decrease of 11% in the small-signal gain (S
₂₁
), while the second was stressed at 20 dBm of RF power during non-stop 600 hours. The results, under these conditions, showed a decrease of 12% in the S
₂₁
and an increase of 13.8% in the Noise Figure (NF). All predictive degradation simulations were compared to measurements demonstrating a satisfactory agreement.