Title :
RF waveform engineering applied to GaAs MESFET radiation safe operating area
Author :
Le Gallou, Nicolas ; Sturesson, Fredrik
Author_Institution :
Eur. Space Agency (ESA), ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands
Abstract :
This paper gives an overview on tests done at ESA/ESTEC related to the safe operating area of two different types of GaAs MESFET when subjected to heavy ion bombardment while loaded with RF signal. The heavy ion test campaigns are described and waveform measurements defining the safe operating area for the two types of devices are discussed. The principal interest of performing radiation tests under RF conditions is to reach regions which would not be testable in DC conditions, albeit being reached by application voltage waveforms. The results show very different robustness characteristics depending the MESFET process selected and show that, as opposed to commonly believed, GaAs devices may not be fully immune to burn outs under heavy ion conditions.
Keywords :
MESFET integrated circuits; gallium arsenide; radiation; GaAs; MESFET radiation; RF waveform engineering; safe operating area; Breakdown voltage; Circuit testing; Condition monitoring; Gallium arsenide; Ion implantation; L-band; Life testing; MESFETs; Performance evaluation; Radio frequency; GaAs; Heavy Ions; MESFET; Power Amplifier; SSPA; Single Event Burn Out;
Conference_Titel :
Microwave Symposium Digest, 2009. MTT '09. IEEE MTT-S International
Conference_Location :
Boston, MA
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-2803-8
Electronic_ISBN :
0149-645X
DOI :
10.1109/MWSYM.2009.5165840