Reliability and performance of a true enhancement mode HIGFET for wireless applications

Freescale’s true enhancement mode (EMODE) HIGFET is a high performance single supply technology used for wireless power amplifiers. It is the first technology of its kind to be produced in a high volume manufacturing environment. The EMODE HIGFET intrinsic reliability was evaluated using a conventional three temperature DC accelerated stress test. The device used for these tests has a total gate width of 0.6 mm, a gate length of 0.8 μm, and a die thickness of 3 mils. The device has no through-wafer vias, is representative of the unit cell for larger devices, and was processed using a production mask set.For targeted applications with a system life of 5 years, the first expected failure at 150 °C for the 1 ppm level was determined to be 82 years at a 90% lower confidence level, which exceeds the reliability requirements for subscriber unit power amplifiers by a wide margin. This work demonstrates that EMODE HIGFET devices are high performance RF devices with intrinsic reliability well in excess of anticipated system requirements.