High Reliability of 0.1 µm InGaAs/InAlAs/InP High Electron Mobility Transistors Microwave Monolithic Integrated Circuit on 3-inch InP Substrates

The high-reliability performance of K-band microwave monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC) amplifiers fabricated with 0.1 mum gate length InGaAs/InAlAs/InP high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) on 3-inch wafers using a high volume production process technology is reported. Operating at an accelerated life test condition of V-ds = 1.5 V and I-ds = 150 mA/mm, two-stage balanced amplifiers were lifetested at two-temperatures (T-1 = 230degreesC, and T-2 = 250degreesC) in nitrogen ambient. The activation energy (E-a) is as high as 1.5 eV, achieving a projected median-time-to-failure (MTTF) > 1 x 10(6) h at a 125degreesC of junction temperature. MTTF was determined by 2-temperature constant current stress using \DeltaS21\ > 1.0 dB as the failure criteria. This is the first report of high reliability 0.1 mum InGaAs/InAlAs/InP HEMT MMICs based on small-signal microwave characteristics. This result demonstrates a reliable InGaAs/InAlAs/InP HEMT production technology.