
L
IN
E
A
R
&
P
O
W
E
R
A
M
P
L
IF
IE
R
S
-
C
H
IP
3
3 - 7
For price, delivery, and to place orders, please contact Hittite Microwave Corporation:
20 Alpha Road, Chelmsford, MA 01824 Phone: 978-250-3343 Fax: 978-250-3373
Order On-line at www.hittite.com
DIS
CO
NTIN
UE
D
PR
OD
UC
T
No
t Reco
mm
ended
for
Ne
w D
esi
gns
Mounting & Bonding Techniques for Millimeterwave GaAs MMICs
The die should be attached directly to the ground plane eutectically or
with conductive epoxy (see HMC general Handling, Mounting, Bonding
Note).
50 Ohm Microstrip transmission lines on 0.127mm (5 mil) thick alumina
thin film substrates are recommended for bringing RF to and from the chip
(Figure 1). If 0.254mm (10 mil) thick alumina thin film substrates must be
used, the die should be raised 0.150mm (6 mils) so that the surface of the
die is coplanar with the surface of the substrate. One way to accomplish
this is to attach the 0.102mm (4 mil) thick die to a 0.150mm (6 mil) thick
molybdenum heat spreader (moly-tab) which is then attached to the
ground plane (Figure 2).
Microstrip substrates should brought as close to the die as possible in
order to minimize bond wire length. Typical die-to-substrate spacing is
0.076mm to 0.152 mm (3 to 6 mils).
RF bypass capacitors should be used on the Vdd & Vgg inputs. 100pF
single layer capacitors (mounted eutectically or by conductive epoxy)
placed no further than 0.762 mm (30 mils) from the chip are recommended.
The photo in figure 3 shows a typical assembly for the HMC283 MMIC
chip.
0.102mm (0.004”) Thick GaAs MMIC
Ribbon Bond
RF Ground Plane
0.127mm (0.005”) Thick Alumina
Thin Film Substrate
0.076mm
(0.003”)
Figure 1.
0.102mm (0.004”) Thick GaAs MMIC
Ribbon Bond
RF Ground Plane
0.254mm (0.010”) Thick Alumina
Thin Film Substrate
0.076mm
(0.003”)
Figure 2.
0.150mm (0.005”) Thick
Moly Tab
HMC283
v03.1007
GaAs MMIC MEDIUM POWER
AMPLIFIER, 17 - 40 GHz
Figure 3: Typical HMC283 Assembly
Handling Precautions
Follow these precautions to avoid permanent damage.
Storage: All bare die are placed in either Waffle or Gel based ESD protective containers, and then sealed in an ESD
protective bag for shipment. Once the sealed ESD protective bag has been opened, all die should be stored in a dry
nitrogen environment.
Cleanliness: Handle the chips in a clean environment. DO NOT attempt to clean the chip using liquid cleaning
systems.
Static Sensitivity: Follow ESD precautions to protect against ESD strikes.
Transients: Suppress instrument and bias supply transients while bias is applied. Use shielded signal and bias
cables to minimize inductive pick-up.
General Handling: Handle the chip along the edges with a vacuum collet or with a sharp pair of bent tweezers. The
surface of the chip may have fragile air bridges and should not be touched with vacuum collet, tweezers, or fingers.