Proton radiation response of SiGe HBT analog and RF circuits and passives

Abstract

Presents the first experimental results of the effects of 63 MeV proton irradiation on SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) analog and radio-frequency (RF) circuits and passive elements. A SiGe HBT bandgap, reference circuit, commonly used to generate stable on-chip voltages in analog ICs, a SiGe HBT voltage-controlled oscillator, a key building block for RF transceivers, and an LC bandpass filter routinely used in RF circuit design were each irradiated to proton fluences as high as 5/spl times/10/sup 13/ p/cm/sup 2/. The degradation associated with these extreme proton fluences was found to be minimal, suggesting that SiGe HBT technology is robust for these types of circuit applications.