SOI CMOS, SiGe BiCMOS, GaAs HBT and GaAs PHEMT Technologies Characterization for Radiation-Tolerant Microwave Applications

Abstract

Radiation-oriented (RO-) and microwave (MW) characterization of the several process technologies – CMOS silicon-on-insulator (SOI) 180 nm process, CMOS 90 nm process, SiGe BiCMOS 0.42/0.25 µm process, GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) 2 µm process and GaAs pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor (PHEMT) 0.5 µm process, which suitable for the development of radiation-tolerance transceiver integrated circuits with operating frequencies up to 30 GHz are presented. The results of MW-characterization showed two process technologies manufacturing in "foundry" mode – CMOS SOI 180 nm and CMOS 90 nm potentiality for the development of transceiver ICs with operating frequencies above 3 GHz and 12 GHz respectively. Obtained experimental results allow to determine radiation-tolerance indicators for the total ionizing dose, neutrons, impulse exposure and heavy ions and specify critical elements and IP-block fragments for given processes. Experimental data can be used at the first step of reasonable choice of process technologies for radiation-tolerant transceiver design.