A 600 MHz Si bipolar pin electronics IC with timing error less than 25 ps

Demands are increasing for accurate timing, high pin count, low cost, and high speed in the automatic test equipment (ATE) market. To meet these demands, a pin electronics IC (PEIC) integrates major pin electronics (PE) components: driver with termination function; window comparator; programmable load; and hard clamps. For timing accuracy, a high-speed complementary Si bipolar process with the npn/pnp f/sub T/ of 9 GHz/5 GHz is used. GaAs MESFET is not chosen since it has a timing error problem known as slow-tails.