Studying yield and reliability relationships for metal defects

This paper investigates the reliability of GaAs circuits with an emphasis on liftoff metal shorting. There are several key results of this work: (1) we have continued the historical discussion of relationships between defects, yield, and reliability; (2) we have proposed the applicability of these quality and reliability aspects to metal defects; (3) we have introduced the dimension of physical space between metal as an amplifier of defect detection; (4) we have combined the physical amplification with voltage acceleration to measure defects; (5) we have used the defect data to demonstrate relationships between yield and reliability for structures of applicable sizes; (6) we have proposed a correlation between metal shorting defects and extrinsic capacitors. These results have unveiled the ability to measure defects and apply improvement techniques that have been established for other structures - such as capacitors. This opens opportunities for measuring, monitoring and screening in ways not previously discussed for compound semiconductor devices.