The integrated blocking capacitor and the diodes in the
rectifier could fail as well, but in the chosen silicon-oninsulator
(SOI) technology, their mean-time-between-failure
(MTBF) is larger than that of transistors. Transistors are 3-
terminal devices (bulk is connected to source in SOI) whereas
capacitors and diodes are 2-terminal devices with both
terminals fully insulated from the substrate by the thick buried
oxide layer. In addition, the gate-source voltage of transistors
is limited to a low level because of the thin gate oxide layer,
whereas the dielectrics between capacitor plates are more than
0.5μm thick. As a result, integrated capacitors and diodes can
tolerate higher voltages than transistors. Table II summarizes
key data for these devices in the chosen technology.