A 3000 hours DC Life Test on AlGaN/GaN HEMT for RF and microwave applications

Impressive results have been published for GaN-based transistors for large frequency range. Therefore, both single chip and complete amplification system reliability demonstration is becoming an important subject of concern. In this paper a 3000 hour DC life test is described and the last results derived from the data treatment of this test are presented. The transistor parameters show an evolution strictly related to the biasing point. The High Forward Gate Current test does not present any particular degradation of the transistor characteristics. The most important degradation is observed on the drain saturation current during the High Temperature Operating test. The effect of hot-carriers seems to be the main cause for device degradation.