Performance Degradation Investigation for a GaAs PHEMT High Gain MMIC PA Taking into Account the Temperature

Abstract

In order to comprehensively grasp the performance changes for the monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC), this paper proposes that the complete temperature reliability tests for a 2.4–4.4 GHz gallium arsenide (GaAs) pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor (pHEMT) high gain power amplifier (PA) should be investigated. The performance for this MMIC PA at different temperatures has been presented effectively. The results show that the direct current (DC) characteristics, small-signal gain (S21), and radio frequency (RF) output characteristics for this MMIC PA decrease and the output third-order intersection point (OIP3) increases with the rising temperature. The main factor influencing the performance is analyzed in detail. For further applications of this MMIC PA, several measures can be utilized to remedy the performance degradation. This paper can provide significant engineer guidance for the reliability design of RF microwave circuits.

Investigation on Temperature Behavior for a GaAs E-pHEMT MMIC LNA

“…Recently, most of the investigation about MMIC LNAs focuses on the circuit design and relatively little attention is given to its temperature behavior. This means that if its performance degrades to an uncertain level due to the temperature, an irreversible failure for MMIC LNAs with admirable indexes will be caused [ 8 ]. According to previous papers, investigation on temperature behavior is still a hot issue [ 9 , 10 ].…”

“…According to previous papers, investigation on temperature behavior is still a hot issue [ 9 , 10 ]. However, the common temperature ranges, depending on the extreme temperature, are −40–120 °C, −25–125 °C, 10–90 °C, 20–120 °C or 25–125 °C and so on [ 8 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ]. Meanwhile, the equal interval temperatures are adopted [ 8 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ].…”

“…However, the common temperature ranges, depending on the extreme temperature, are −40–120 °C, −25–125 °C, 10–90 °C, 20–120 °C or 25–125 °C and so on [ 8 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ]. Meanwhile, the equal interval temperatures are adopted [ 8 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ]. Notably, it is not appropriate to use similar methods to determine the temperature of investigation under alpine conditions.…”

A Multi-Source Co-Simulation Method for the Thermal Stability of GaAs Sub-6G Power Amplifier with Adjustable Bias Current

“…However, the TCs of currents are still large due to the non-linear thermal property voltages of diode-connected transistors. Additionally, as it is limited by the single-npn-device process, the advantage of a BG current source is prominent in the CMOS process [21,22].…”

“…However, the TCs of currents are still large due to the non-linear thermal property voltages of diode-connected transistors. Additionally, as it is limited by the single-npn-device process, the advantage of a BG current source is prominent in the CMOS process [21,22]. The thermal stability can also be improved by the accurate thermal modeling [23], which is capable of simulating the parameters as close to the measured results as possible.…”