Faculty of Electronic Engineering, Niš, Serbia

The paper is available at the following link: PDF

Abstract:

Long-term reliability of radio-frequency integrated circuits remains a practical concern that is sometimes over- looked during initial design phases, especially in cost-sensitive applications where design margins tend to be minimal. This paper reviews the main mechanisms behind performance degradation in RF circuits (Bias Temperature Instability, Hot Carrier Injection, electromigration, and Time-Dependent Di- electric Breakdown) with focus on how these phenomena affect gain, noise figure, and linearity over time. To illustrate these effects, we conducted a simulation study using QUCS-S with a simple common-source amplifier, varying the threshold voltage to mimic aging-induced parameter shifts. Within the scope of this work, this approach provides insight into expected performance trends, though it does not capture all aspects of real aging. We also discuss practical mitigation strategies that can help extend circuit lifetime.

Keywords:

RF circuits, aging, reliability, CMOS, BTI, HCI, electromigration, TDDB, simulation.

REFERENCES:

[1] D. K. Schroder and J. A. Babcock, "Negative bias temperature instability: Road to cross in deep submicron silicon semiconductor manufacturing," J. Appl. Phys., vol. 94, no. 1, pp. 1–18, 2003.
[2] C. Hu, S. C. Tam, F.-C. Hsu, P.-K. Ko, T.-Y. Chan, and K. W. Terrill, "Hot-electron-induced MOSFET degradation: Model, monitor, and im- provement," IEEE Trans. Electron Devices, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 375–385, 1985.
[3] J. H. Stathis, "Reliability limits for the gate insulator in CMOS technol- ogy," IBM J. Res. Dev., vol. 46, no. 2/3, pp. 265–286, 2002.
[4] B. Razavi, RF Microelectronics, 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA: Prentice Hall, 2011.
[5] QUCS-S Development Team, "Qucs-S: Quite Universal Circuit Simulator with SPICE," 2024. [Online]. Available: https://ra3xdh.github.io/
[6] S. Bina, "Modeling of degradation phenomena in nanoscale MOSFETs," Ph.D. dissertation, TU Wien, Vienna, Austria, 2014. [Online]. Available: https://www.iue.tuwien.ac.at/phd/bina/
[7] R. Entner, "Modeling and simulation of negative bias temperature in- stability," Ph.D. dissertation, TU Wien, Vienna, Austria, 2007. [Online]. Available: https://www.iue.tuwien.ac.at/phd/entner/
[8] J. H. Lee et al., "Accurate model for time-dependent dielectric breakdown of high-k metal gate stacks," in Proc. IEEE Int. Reliab. Phys. Symp. (IRPS), 2009, pp. 481–484.