Voltage stress effect on class AB power amplifier and mixed-signal sample-hold circuit

The effects of gate and drain voltage stress and breakdown location on the class AB power amplifier and mixed-signal sample-hold circuit have been studied. The soft breakdown has minor effect on the performance of the power amplifier and sample-hold circuit, while the hard breakdown at the drain side reduces the power efficiency of the class AB power amplifier and degrades the signal to noise ratio of the sample-hold circuit significantly. Also, hot electron effect reduces the linearity of the class AB power amplifier.