Accelerated lifetime testing and failure analysis of quartz based GaAs planar Schottky diodes

Accelerated lifetime tests have been performed on integrated planar GaAs Schottky diodes that were bonded to quartz substrates upside-down with a heat-cured epoxy. Results at 175°C, 200°C, and 240°C were analyzed using the Arrhenius-lognormal model. These tests predict a room temperature MTTF of 3x10^8 hours, a value that is comparable to conventional high-frequency planar Schottky diodes. This result demonstrates that the use of an appropriate epoxy to obtain GaAs devices on quartz substrates does not significantly reduce the lifetime of the devices

Solar Cell Design for Manufacturing: Final Report, October 2005 - September 2007

GE Energy made progress in improving its solar cell process, developing its metal wrap-through process, and completing highly accelerated lifetime testing on elements of its roof-integrated module

Correlations of Capacitance-Voltage Hysteresis With Thin-Film CdTe Solar Cell Performance During Accelerated Lifetime Testing

In this paper we present the correlation of CdTe solar cell performance with capacitance-voltage hysteresis, defined presently as the difference in capacitance measured at zero-volt bias when collecting such data with different pre-measurement bias conditions. These correlations were obtained on CdTe cells stressed under conditions of 1-sun illumination, open-circuit bias, and an acceleration temperature of approximately 100 ºC

Thermal Characterization and Lifetime Prediction of LED Boards for SSL Lamp

This work presents a detailed 3-D thermo-mechanical modelling of two LED board technologies to compare their performance. LED board are considered to be used in high power 800 lumen retrofit SSL (Solid State Lighting) lamp. Thermal, mechanical and life time properties are evaluated by numerical modelling. Experimental results measured on fabricated LED board samples are compared to calculated data. Main role of LED board in SSL lamp is to transport heat from LED die to a heat sink and keep the thermal stresses in all layers as low as possible. The work focuses on improving of new LED board thermal management. Moreover, reliability and lifetime of LED board has been inspected by numerical calculation and validated by experiment. Thermally induced stress has been studied for wide temperature range that can affect the LED boards (-40 to +125°C). Numerical modelling of thermal performance, thermal stress distribution and lifetime has been carried out with ANSYS structural analysis where temperature dependent stress-strain material properties have been taken into account. The objective of this study is to improve not only the thermal performance of new LED board, but also identification of potential problems from mechanical fatigue point of view. Accelerated lifetime testing (e.g., mechanical) is carried out in order to study the failure behaviour of current and newly developed LED board

Accelerated Lifetime Testing of Carbon Filled Polycarbonate under Cycle Loading Conditions

Mechanical Engineerin

Accelerated lifetime testing and failure analysis of quartz based GaAs planar Schottky diodes

Accelerated lifetime tests have been performed on integrated planar GaAs Schottky diodes that were bonded to quartz substrates upside-down with a heat-cured epoxy. Results at 175°C, 200°C, and 240°C were analyzed using the Arrhenius-lognormal model. These tests predict a room temperature MTTF of 3x10^8 hours, a value that is comparable to conventional high-frequency planar Schottky diodes. This result demonstrates that the use of an appropriate epoxy to obtain GaAs devices on quartz substrates does not significantly reduce the lifetime of the devices

Analytical and experimental investigation of the feasibility of accelerated lifetime testing of materials exposed to an atomic oxygen beam

The interaction of atomic particles with surfaces is of both scientific and technological interest. Past work emphasizes the measurement of high-energy sputtering yields. Very little work utilized low-energy beams for which chemical and electronic effects can be important. Even less work has been carried out using well-defined low-energy projectiles. The use of low-energy, reactive projectiles permits one to investigate surface processes that have not been well characterized. As the energy of the projectile decreases, the collisional cascades and spikes, that are common for high-energy projectiles, become less important, and chemical and electronic effects can play a significant role. Aspects of particle-surface interactions are of concern in several areas of technology. For example, the erosion, desorption, and glow of surfaces of spacecraft in orbit are important in the arena of space technology. The materials studied under this contract are of possible use on the exterior portions of the power generation system of Space Station Freedom. Under the original designs, Space Station Freedom's power generation system would generate potential differences on the surface as high as 200 volts. Ions in the plasma that often surround orbiting vehicles would be accelerated by these potentials leading to bombardment and erosion of the exposed surfaces. The major constituent of the atmosphere, approximately 90 percent, in the low earth orbit region is atomic oxygen. Since atomic oxygen is extremely reactive with most materials, chemical effects can arise in addition to the physical sputtering caused by the acceleration of the oxygen ions. Furthermore, the incident oxygen ions can remain embedded in the exposed surfaces, altering the chemical composition of the surfaces. Since the effective binding energy of a chemically altered surface can be quite different from that of the pure substrate, the sputtering yield of a chemically altered surface is usually different also. The low-energy O+ sputtering yield measurements, reported here, will help quantify the erosion rates for materials exposed to the low-earth orbit environment. These measurements are of technological importance in another respect. In most surface analysis techniques, a surface is bombarded with ions, electrons or photons. Information concerning the structure of the surface and near-surface bulk, abundance of impurities and defects, as well as other surface properties are obtained either from the desorbed species or from the scattered projectiles. Because of their low penetration depth, low-energy ions provide an advantage over other techniques because they provide information that is more indicative of conditions on the surface rather than integrated effects arising from deeper in the bulk. A better understanding of the microscopic processes involved in these interactions is not only of basic scientific interest, but will also aid the scientific community by increasing the accuracy and usefulness of these surface analysis techniques