HBT technology and reliability for satellite applications, withinthe relatively new APOS project

TLDR: The APOS (Advanced Power Subassemblies project) as mentioned in this paper addressed the devices (MMIC or discrete) used in the solid state power amplifiers (SSPA) that drive the transmit active antenna.

Abstract: The APOS (Advanced Power Subassemblies project addresses the devices (MMIC or discrete) used in the solid state power amplifiers (SSPA) that drive the transmit active antenna. These are key devices and their electrical and thermal performances have a major impact on both the satellite and the ground terminals. GaAs-based heterostructure bipolar transistor, due to their superior power/linearity performance, could be one of these enabling devices. This aspect will be addressed within the frame of this project through three main objectives : 1)To analyse the reliability of UMS HBT technology and demonstrate it meets the requirements of the commercial satellite markets. 2)To improve the power and thermal performances of HBT by developing a power flip- chip assembly technology using thermal bumps in the active area of the power device. 3)To benchmark the developed power HBT technology by using the power MMIC in a suitable active antenna module. This project consortium is formed by Alcatel Space, that will co-ordinate the project, United Monolithic Semiconductors (UMS), Thomson-CSF, Institute for Material Research at Limburg University Centrum (1MO-LUC), DESTIN and Institut d'Electronique et de Microelectronique du Nord (1EMN).