Latent ESD failures in Schottky barrier diodes

This paper describes a case study of microwave transceivers that were losing their sensitivity within a few months of operation due to the ESD latent failure of the Schottky barrier diodes. The culprit was a pick-and-place machine used to bin the diodes after the DC and RF characterization tests. It was degrading the diodes by subjecting them to ESD (CDM) pulses. By monitoring the reverse current leakage test (I/sub r/ at 1 V) of the diodes at assembly, DC and RF testing, and the binning operation; we were able to screen out high leakage reverse current diodes prior to use in transceivers. It is recommended that the I/sub r/ test (at 1 V) be used as a new parameter to screen Schottky barrier diodes for transceiver applications.