Reliability analysis of BiCMOS SiGe:C technology under aggressive conditions for emerging RF and mm-Wave applications

In this contribution, impact of extreme environmental conditions in terms of energy-level radiation of protons on SiGe integrated circuits is experimentally studied. Canonical representative structures including linear (passive interconnects/antennas) and non-linear (Low Noise Amplifiers) are used as carriers for assessing impact of aggressive stress conditions on their performances. Perspectives for holistic Modeling and Characterization approaches accounting for various interaction mechanisms (substrate resistivity variations, couplings/interferences, drift in DC and RF characteristics, for actives are down to allow for optimal solutions in pushing SiGe technologies toward applications with harsh and radiation-intense environments (e.g., Space, Nuclear, Military). Specific design prototypes are built for assessing mission-critical profiles for emerging RF and mm-Wave applications.