Evaluation of Electrical Characteristics of the Copper-Metallized SPDT GaAs Switches at Elevated Temperatures

Abstract

Copper-metallized AlGaAs/InGaAs pseudomophic high-electron mobility transistor single-pole-double-throw (SPDT) switches utilizing platinum (Pt, 70 nm) as the diffusion barrier have been studied and demonstrated. As compared with the Au-metallized switches, the Cu-metallized SPDT switches exhibited comparable performance with insertion loss less than 0.5 dB, return loss larger than 20 dB, isolation larger than 35 dB, and the input power for 1-dB compression (input P 1 dB) of 28.3 dBm at 2.5 GHz. In order to evaluate the temperaturedependent impact on dc and RF characteristics of the coppermetallized switches for high-temperature applications, the switches have been tested at different temperatures. The device exhibits low thermal threshold coefficients (δV th /δT) of −0.25 mV/K from 300 K to 500 K, good microwave performance at 380 K with insertion loss less than 0.5 dB, isolation higher than 40 dB, and the input power for 1-dB compression (input P 1 dB) of 28.45 dBm at 2.5 GHz. To test the thermal stability of the Pt diffusion barrier, these switches were annealed at 250 • C for 20 h. After the annealing, the switches showed no degradation of the dc characteristics. In addition, after a high temperature storage life environment test at 150 • C, these copper-metallized switches remained capable of excellent power handling. To test the operation reliability of the copper-metallized switches, the copper-metallized switches were subjected to ON/OFF (control voltage = +3/0 V exchange) stress test for 24 h at room temperature. The devices maintained excellent RF characteristics after the stress test. Consequently, it is successfully demonstrated through these tests that copper metallization using Pt as the diffusion barrier could be applied to the GaAs monolithic microwave integrated circuit switch fabrication with good RF performance, high-temperature characteristics, and reliability.

Effect of Biased Neighboring Wire on Polysilicon Wire Biosensors with Sensing Membrane of γ-APTES Mixed with Polydimethylsiloxane-Treated Silica Nanoparticles

“…In order to extend the electrical measurement capability, the semiconductor parameter analyzer Agilent 4156 C was connected to the AFM system. 34 Figure 3 shows schematically the setup for electrical interference measurement in this work. Pad V 2 of the PSW array was connected to ground as a zero-voltage reference point, while pad V 1 was connected to the voltage source of the Agilent 4156 C through the AFM tip, from which a voltage changing from −6 V ∼ 6 V with an incremental of 50 mV was applied.…”

Modeling Nanoscale Current Conduction in HfO2High-kDielectrics

“…The measurement setup can be found elsewhere. 5) Figure 1 demonstrates a typical nanoscale I-V characteristic of ALD HfO 2 measured by conductive atomic force microscopy (CAFM). Three conduction regions can be clearly observed.…”

Toward a better understanding of the nanoscale degradation mechanisms of ultra-thin Si02/Si films: Investigation of the best experimental conditions with a conductive-atomic force microscope

“…Numerous studies have been realized on thin SiO 2 films on Si substrates using this technique. [2][3][4][5][6] We can mention the pioneering works of Porti et al 2,3 and Wu et al 4,5 Both authors have shown that oxide degradation exhibits two aspects. First, an electrical aspect, where an important leakage current is measured after the application of an electrical stress.…”

“…On the other hand, Wu et al have carried out their experiment under vacuum and, in these conditions, were the only ones to propose time-to-breakdown distributions using a Weibull representation. 5 Sire et al 7 also preferred C-AFM measurements under vacuum and they could investigate the statistics of electrical breakdown field of HfO 2 and SiO 2 thin films, presented in the form of Weibull plots. We note nevertheless that the current range under study by Sire et al ($10 2 nA) was 3 decades higher than those explored by Porti et al, Wu et al, and Hourani et al, whose studies were limited to about 100 pA. That is to say that Sire et al examined hard-breakdown mechanisms whereas the other authors focused on reversible degradation processes.…”