Analysis of electro static discharge on GaAs-based low noise amplifier

Abstract

This paper studies static effect of communication Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) that utilizes GaAs wafer. It analyzes the Electro-Static Discharge (ESD) effect, which occurs within communication components, such as GaAs LNA, and describes testing standard and methods. In order to find out GaAs LNA's susceptibility to static, two well-recognized communication GaAs LNA IC models were selected to be tested. Commercial program allowed measuring of static energy inserted within LNA's internal circuit by running a simulation about static discharge of GaAs LNA. Then we analyzed malfunctions caused by static and discussed about architectural problem and improvement according to the test and simulation result, from the perspective of GaAs LNA's electro static discharge.