Title :
Photoconductive probing and computer simulation of microwave potentials inside a SiGe MMIC
Author :
David, G. ; Yang, K. ; Crites, M. ; Rieh, J.-S. ; Lu, L.H. ; Bhattacharya, P. ; Katehi, L.P.B. ; Whitaker, J.F.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. Eng. & Comput. Sci., Michigan Univ., Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Abstract :
Electrical potentials inside a SiGe MMIC are measured at frequencies up to 20 GHz using a micro-machined photoconductive sampling probe and compared with values predicted using microwave CAD software. The results illustrate that this combination of simulation and in-circuit measurement technique is a powerful tool for performing diagnostics of the microwave performance of Si-based RF circuits. The methodology can be used for applications such as fault isolation and validation of device models, as well as for investigation of the sensitivity of performance to process variations.
Keywords :
Ge-Si alloys; MMIC; circuit CAD; circuit simulation; electric potential; fault diagnosis; integrated circuit design; integrated circuit measurement; photoconducting devices; probes; semiconductor materials; 0 to 20 GHz; MMIC; SiGe; device models; diagnostics; fault isolation; in-circuit measurement technique; microwave CAD software; microwave potentials; photoconductive probing; process variation sensitivity; sampling probe; Computer simulation; Electric potential; Electric variables measurement; Frequency measurement; Germanium silicon alloys; MMICs; Microwave devices; Microwave measurements; Photoconductivity; Silicon germanium;
Conference_Titel :
Silicon Monolithic Integrated Circuits in RF Systems, 1998. Digest of Papers. 1998 Topical Meeting on
Conference_Location :
Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-5288-2
DOI :
10.1109/SMIC.1998.750219
