Repetitive High-Power Microwave Pulses Induced Failure on a GaAs HBT LNA

This study aims at studying the damage effect of gallium arsenide (GaAs) heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) low noise amplifier (LNA) with repetitive high-power microwave (HPM) pulses. The theoretical function for the thermal accumulation effect is derived, which depends on the pulsewidth, the pulse repetition frequency (PRF), and the input power. A simulation model is established to investigate the thermal accumulation effect of repetitive HPM pulses on the HBT. The electric field, current density, and temperature distributions in the HBT with repetitive HPM pulses are discussed first. The influence of the repetitive HPM pulse parameters on the thermal accumulation effect is studied by theoretical analyses and simulations. Results show that the thermal recovery time increases with the pulsewidth or the input power increases. In addition, it is concluded that the frequency does not affect the thermal recovery time. The simulation results agree with the theoretical results. Finally, the damage effect of repetitive HPM pulses is experimentally verified.