RF vs. DC breakdown: implication on pulsed radar applications [MESFETs]

Author

Yu Zhang ; Cherepko, S.V. ; Hwang, J.C.M. ; Halder, S. ; Radhakrishnan, K. ; Geok-Ing Ng ; Muraro, J.-L. ; Bensoussan, A. ; Cazaux, J.-L. ; Soulard, M.

Author_Institution

Lehigh Univ., Bethlehem, PA, USA

fYear

2001

fDate

21-24 Oct. 2001

Firstpage

166

Lastpage

169

Abstract

RF breakdown characteristics of GaAs MESFETs were found to correlate well with their DC breakdown characteristics, provided sufficient dwell time at the quiescent state with sufficient drain-gate voltage was allowed before the MESFETs were turned on. This implies that, for radar applications in which MESFET power amplifiers are rapidly cycled on and off by pulsing the drain voltage, their performance and reliability may be compromised.

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; MESFET circuits; Schottky gate field effect transistors; gallium arsenide; microwave power amplifiers; radar equipment; semiconductor device breakdown; semiconductor device measurement; semiconductor device reliability; DC breakdown characteristics; GaAs; GaAs MESFETs; MESFET performance; MESFET power amplifier cycling; MESFET power amplifiers; MESFET reliability; RF breakdown characteristics; drain voltage pulsing; drain-gate voltage; dwell time; pulsed radar applications; quiescent state; radar applications; Breakdown voltage; Electric breakdown; Foundries; Gallium arsenide; MESFETs; Pulse measurements; Radar applications; Radio frequency; Space technology; Threshold voltage;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Gallium Arsenide Integrated Circuit (GaAs IC) Symposium, 2001. 23rd Annual Technical Digest

Conference_Location

Baltimore, MD, USA

ISSN

1064-7775

Print_ISBN

0-7803-6663-8

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/GAAS.2001.964370

Filename

964370