High reliability InGaP/GaAs HBT

Excellent long term reliability InGaP/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBT) grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) are demonstrated. There were no device failures (T=10000 h) in a sample lot of ten devices (L=6.4 μm ×20 μm) under moderate current densities and high-temperature testing (J_c=25 kA/cm ², V_ce=2.0 V, Junction Temp =264°C). The dc current gain for large area devices (L=75 μm ×75 μm) at 1 kA/cm² at a base sheet resistance of 240 ohms/sq (4×10 ¹⁹ cm^-3@700 Å) was over 100. The dc current gain before reliability testing (L=6.4 μm ×10 μm) at 0.8 kA/cm² was 62. The dc current gain (0.8 kA/cm²) decreased to 57 after 10000 h of reliability testing. The devices showed an f_T=61 GHz and f_max=103 GHz. The reliability results are the highest ever achieved for InGaP/GaAs HBT and these results indicate the great potential of InGaP/GaAs HBT for numerous low- and high-frequency microwave circuit applications. The reliability improvements are probably due to the initial low base current at low current densities which result from the low surface recombination of InGaP and the high valence band discontinuity between InGaP and GaAs     

Molecular beam epitaxial GaAs/AlGaAs heterojunction bipolartransistors on (311)A GaAs substrates with all-silicon doping

The authors have investigated the characteristics and reproducibility of Si-doped p-type (311)A GaAs layers for application to heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The authors obtained p=2.2×10¹⁹ cm^-3 in a layer grown at 670°C. They have used all-Si doping to grow n-p-n transistors. These devices exhibit excellent DC characteristics with β=230 in a device with base doping of p=4×10¹⁸ cm^-3     

Carbon-doped base GaAs-AlGaAs HBT's grown by MOMBE and MOCVDregrowth

High-quality GaAs-AlGaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) in which the carbon-doped base layers (p=10¹⁰-10²⁰ cm^-3, 400-800 Å thick) and Sn-doped collector and subcollector layers are grown by metalorganic molecular-beam epitaxy (MOMBE) and a subsequent regrowth using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) is used to provide the n⁺ AlGaAs emitter and GaAs/InGaAs contact layers are discussed. A current gain of 20 was obtained for a base doping of 10¹⁹ cm^-3 (800 Å thick) in a 90-μm-diameter device, with ideality factors of 1.0 and 1.4 for the base-collector and emitter-base junctions, respectively, demonstrating the excellent regrowth-interface quality. For a base doping of 10²⁰ cm^-3 (400 Å thick), the current gain decreased to 8     

Design study of AlGaAs/GaAs HBTs

The frequency performance of AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) having different layouts, doping profiles, and layer thicknesses was assessed using the BIPOLE computer program. The optimized design of HBTs was studied, and the high current performances of HBTs and polysilicon emitter transistors were compared. It is shown that no current crowding effect occurs at current densities less than 1×10⁵ A/cm² for the HBT with emitter stripe width S_E<3 μm, and the HBT current-handling capability determined by the peak current-gain cutoff frequency is more than twice as large as that of the polysilicon emitter transistor. An optimized maximum oscillation frequency formula has been obtained for a typical process n-p-n AlGaAs/GaAs HBT having base doping of 1×10 ¹⁹ cm^-3     

GaAs/AlGaAs heterojunction Pnp bipolar transistors grownon (100) Si by molecular beam epitaxy

GaAs/AlGaAs Pnp heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) were fabricated and tested on (100) Si substrates for the first time. A common-emitter current gain of β=8 was measured for the typical devices with an emitter area of 50×50 μm² at a collector current density of 1×10⁴ A/cm² with no output negative differential resistance up to 280 mA, highest current used. A very high base-collector breakdown voltage of 10 V was obtained. Comparing the similar structures grown on GaAs substrates, the measured characteristics clearly demonstrate that device grade hole injection can be obtained in GaAs on Si epitaxial layers despite the presence of dislocations     

Effect of exponentially graded base doping on the performance ofGaAs/AlGaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors

The authors have fabricated n-p-n GaAs/AlGaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) with base doping graded exponentially from 5×10¹⁹ cm^-3 at the emitter edge to 5×10¹⁸ cm^-3 at the collector edge. The built-in field due to the exponentially graded doping profile significantly reduces base transit time, despite bandgap narrowing associated with high base doping. Compared to devices with the same base thickness and uniform base doping of 1×10¹⁹ cm^-3 , the cutoff frequency is increased from 22 to 31 GHz and maximum frequency of oscillation is increased from 40 to 58 GHz. Exponentially graded base doping also results ill consistently higher common-emitter current gain than uniform base doping, even though the Gummel number is twice as high and the base resistance is reduced by 40%     

InP/InGaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors grown by gas-sourcemolecular beam epitaxy with carbon-doped base

The first N-p-n InP/InGaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) with p-type carbon doping in InGaAs are reported. P-type carbon doping in the InGaAs base has been achieved by gas-source molecular beam epitaxy (GSMBE) using carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄) as the dopant source. The resulting hole concentration in the base was 1×10¹⁹ cm^-3. HBTs fabricated using material from this growth method display good I-V characteristics with DC current gain above 500. This verifies the ability to use carbon doping to make a heavily p-type InGaAs base of an N-p-n HBT     

Si/Si1-xGex heterojunction bipolartransistors produced by limited reaction processing

Si/Si_1-xGe_x heterojunction transistors (HBTs) fabricated by a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique are reported. A rapid thermal CVD limited-reaction processing (LRP) technique was used for the in situ growth of all three device layers, including a 20-mm Si_1-xGe_x layer in the base. The highest current gains observed (β=400) were for a Si/Si_1-x Ge_x HBT with a base doping of 7×10¹⁸ cm^-3 near the junction and a shallow arsenic implant to form ohmic contacts and increase current gain. Ideal base currents were observed for over six decades of current and the collector current remained ideal for nearly nine current decades starting at 1 pA. The bandgap difference between a p-type Si layer doped to 5×10¹⁷ cm^-3 and the Si_1-xGe_x(x=0.31) base measured 0.27 eV. This value was deduced from the measurements of the temperature dependence of the base current and is in good agreement with published calculations for strained Si_1-xGe_x layers on Si     

High-current-gain small-offset-voltage In0.49Ga0.51P/GaAs tunneling emitter bipolar transistors grown by gas sourcemolecular beam epitaxy

Different emitter size, self-aligned In_0.49Ga_0.51 P/GaAs tunneling emitter bipolar transistors (TEBTs) grown by gas source molecular beam epitaxy (GSMBE) with 100-Å barrier thickness and 1000-Å p⁺(1×10¹⁹ cm^-3) base have been fabricated and measured at room temperature. A small-signal current gain of 236 and a small common-emitter offset voltage of 40 mV were achieved without any grading. It is found that the emitter size effect on current gain was reduced by the use of a tunnel barrier. The current gain and the offset voltage obtained were the highest and lowest reported values to date, respectively, in InGaP/GaAs system heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) or TEBTs with similar base dopings and thicknesses     

Small-scaled InGaP/GaAs HBTs with WSi/Ti base electrode and buriedSiO2

This paper describes the fabrication and characteristics of small-scaled InGaP/GaAs HBTs with high-speed as well as low-current operation. To reduce both the emitter size S_E and the base-collector capacitance C_BC simultaneously, the HBTs are fabricated by using WSi/Ti as the base electrode and by burying SiO₂ in the extrinsic base-collector region under the base electrode. WSi/Ti simplifies and facilitates processing to fabricate a small base electrode, and makes it possible to reduce the width of the base contact to less than 0.4 μm without the large increase in the base resistance. The DC current gain of 20 is obtained for an HBT with S _E of 0.3×1.6 μm² due to the suppression of emitter size effect by using InGaP as the emitter material. An HBT with SE of 0.6×4.6 μm² exhibited f_T of 138 GHz and f_max of 275 GHz at I_C of 4 mA; and an HBT with SE of 0.3×1.6 μm² exhibited f_T of 96 GHz and f_max of 197 GHz at I_C of 1 mA. These results indicate the great potential of these HBTs for high-speed and low-power circuit applications     

High performance Al0.35Ga0.65As/GaAs HBT's

AlGaAs emitter heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) are demonstrated to have excellent dc and RF properties comparable to InGaP/GaAs HBTs by increasing the Al composition. Al_0.35Ga _0.65As/GaAs HBTs exhibit very high dc current gain at all bias levels, exceeding 140 at 25 A/cm² and reaching a maximum of 210 at 26 kA/cm² (L=1.4 μm×3 μm, R_sb=330 Ω/□). The temperature dependence of the peak dc current gain is also significantly improved by increasing the AlGaAs mole fraction of the emitter. Device analysis suggests that a larger emitter energy gap contributes to the improved device performance by both lowering space charge recombination and increasing the barrier to reverse hole injection     

Submicrometer self-aligned AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction bipolartransistor process suitable for digital applications

A self-aligned process is developed to obtain submicrometer high-performance AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) which can maintain a high current gain for emitter sizes on the order of 1 μm². The major features of the process are incorporation of an AlGaAs surface passivation structure around the entire emitter-base junction periphery to reduce surface recombination and reliable removal of base metal (Ti/W) deposits from the sidewall by electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma deposition of oxide and ECR plasma etching by NF₃. A DC current gain of more than 30 can be obtained for HBTs with an emitter-base junction area of 0.5×2 μm² at submilliampere collector currents. The maximum f_T and f_max obtained from a 0.5×2 μm² emitter HBT are 46 and 42 GHz, respectively at I_C=1.5 and more than 20 GHz even at I_C=0.1 mA     

Influence of buffer layer thickness on DC performance ofGaAs/AlGaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors grown on siliconsubstrates

The DC performance of GaAs/AlAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) grown on silicon substrates with buffer layers ranging from 0 to 5 μm was investigated. Current gain, collector-emitter breakdown voltage, emitter-base and collector-base diode ideality factors, and breakdown voltages were measured as the buffer layer thickness was varied between 0 and 5 μm. The current gain steadily increases with increasing buffer layer thickness until the layer reaches 3 μm. However, the other DC parameters are relatively insensitive to the buffer layer thickness. A small-signal current gain of 60 is typically achieved for devices with 6×6-μm² emitters at a density of 6×10⁴ A/cm² when the buffer layer is ⩾3 μm     

Comparison of DC and high-frequency performance of zinc-doped andcarbon-doped InP/InGaAs HBTs grown by metalorganic chemical vapordeposition

Zinc and carbon-doped InP/InGaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) with the same design were grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). DC current gain values of 36 and 16 were measured for zinc and carbon-doped HBTs, respectively, and carrier lifetimes were measured by time-resolved photoluminescence to explain the difference. Transmission line model (TLM) analysis of carbon-doped base layers showed excellent sheet-resistance (828 Ω/□ for 600 A base), indicating successful growth of highly carbon-doped base (2×10¹⁹ cm^-3). The reasons for larger contact resistance of carbon than zinc-doped base despite its low sheet resistance were analyzed. f_T and f_max of 72 and 109 GHz were measured for zinc-doped HBTs, while 70-GHz f_T and 102 GHz f_max were measured for carbon-doped devices. While the best performance was similar for the two HBTs, the associated biasing current densities were much different between zinc (4.0×10 ⁴ A/cm²) and carbon-doped HBTs (2.0×10⁵ A/cm²). The bias-dependant high-frequency performance of the HBTs was measured and analyzed to explain the discrepancy     

High-speed small-scale InGaP/GaAs HBT technology and itsapplication to integrated circuits

We have developed the advanced performance, small-scale InGaP/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) by using WSi/Ti base electrode and buried SiO₂ in the extrinsic collector. The base-collector capacitance C_BC was further reduced to improve high-frequency performance. Improving the uniformity of the buried SiO ₂, reducing the area of the base electrode, and optimizing the width of the base-contact enabled us to reduce the parasitic capacitance in the buried SiO₂ region by 50% compared to our previous devices. The cutoff frequency f_T of 156 GHz and the maximum oscillation frequency f_max of 255 GHz were obtained at a collector current I_C of 3.5 mA for the HBT with an emitter size S_E of 0.5×4.5 μm², and f_T of 114 GHz and f_max of 230 GHz were obtained at I_C of 0.9 mA for the HBT with S_E of 0.25×1.5 μm². We have also fabricated digital and analog circuits using these HBTs. A 1/8 static frequency divider operated at a maximum toggle frequency of 39.5 GHz with a power consumption per flip-flop of 190 mW. A transimpedance amplifier provides a gain of 46.5 dB·Ω with a bandwidth of 41.6 GHz at a power consumption of 150 mW. These results indicate the great potential of our HBTs for high-speed, low-power circuit applications     

Heavily carbon-doped InGaP/GaAs HBT's with buried polycrystallineGaAs under the base electrode

This paper describes a new approach to fabricating InGaP/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBT's) with a high cutoff frequency (f_T), high maximum oscillation frequency (f_max), and low external collector capacitance (C_bc). To attain a high f_T and f_max, a heavy carbon-doping (1.3×10²⁰ cm^-3) technique was used with a thin (30-nm-thick) GaAs base layer, while for low C_bc, low-temperature gas-source molecular-beam epitaxial growth on SiO₂ -patterned substrates was used to bury high-resistance polycrystalline GaAs under the base electrode. An f_T of 120 GHz and an f_max of 230 GHz were achieved for three parallel 0.7×8.5 μm HBT's with an undoped-collector structure, and an f _T of 170 GHz and an f_max of 160 GHz were obtained for a single 0.9×10 μm HBT with a ballistic-collection-transistor structure. Compared to HBT's without buried poly-GaAs, the maximum stable gain was improved by 1.2 dB in the 0.7×8.5 μm HBT and by 2.3 dB in the 0.9×10 μm HBT due to the reduction in C_bc. These results show the high potential of the proposed HBT's for high-speed digital and broadband-amplifier applications     

Super low noise InGaP gated PHEMT

Very high performance InGaP/InGaAs/GaAs PHEMTs will be demonstrated. The fabricated InGaP gated PHEMTs devices with 0.25 × 160/cm² and 0.25 × 300 μm² of gate dimensions show 304 mA/mm and 330 mA/mm of saturation drain current at V_GS = 0 V, V_DS = 2 V, and 320 mS/mm and 302 mS/mm of extrinsic transconductances, respectively. Noise figures for 160 μm and 300 μm gate-width devices at 12 GHz are measured to be 0.46 dB with a 13 dB associated gain and 0.49 dB with a 12.85 dB associated gain, respectively. With such a high gain and low noise, the drain-to-gate breakdown voltage can be larger than 11 V. Standard deviation in the threshold voltage of 22 mV for 160 μm gate-width devices across a 4-in wafer can be achieved using a highly selective wet recess etching process. Good thermal stability of these InGaP gated PHEMTs is also presented     

High-speed, high-current-gain p-n-p InP/InGaAs heterojunctionbipolar transistors

p-n-p InP/InGaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) are reported for the first time. The transistors, grown by metal organic molecular beam epitaxy (MOMBE), exhibited maximum DC current gain values up to 420 for a base doping level of 4×10¹⁸ cm^-3 . Small-signal measurements on self-aligned transistors with 3-μm×8-μm emitter area indicated the unity gain cutoff frequency value of 10.5 GHz and the inferred maximum frequency of oscillation of 25 GHz. The results clearly demonstrate the feasibility of complementary integrated circuits in the InP material system     

Power performance of InP-based single and double heterojunctionbipolar transistors

The microwave and power performance of fabricated InP-based single and double heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) is presented. The single heterojunction bipolar transistors (SHBTs), which had a 5000 Å InGaAs collector, had BV_CEO of 7.2 V and J_Cmax of 2×10⁵ A/cm². The resulting HBTs with 2×10 μm² emitters produced up to 1.1 mW/μm2 at 8 GHz with efficiencies over 30%. Double heterojunction bipolar transistors (DHBTs) with a 3000-Å InP collector had a BV_CEO of 9 V and J_{c max} of 1.1×10⁵ A/cm², resulting in power densities up to 1.9 mW/μm² at 8 GHz and a peak efficiency of 46%. Similar DHBTs with a 6000 Å InP collector had a higher BV_CEO of 18 V, but the J _{c max} decreased to 0.4×10⁵ A/cm² due to current blocking at the base-collector junction. Although the 6000 Å InP collector provided higher f_max and gain than the 3000 Å collector, the lower J_{c max} reduced its maximum power density below that of the SHBT wafer. The impact on power performance of various device characteristics, such as knee voltage, breakdown voltage, and maximum current density, are analyzed and discussed     

Impact of Al composition on RF noise figure of AlGaAs/GaAsheterojunction bipolar transistors

The influence of Al content on the RF noise characteristics of Al _xGa_1-xAs/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBT's) is presented. It is shown that the minimum noise figure (F_min) at 2 GHz is reduced by increasing the Al mole fraction (x). This observed improvement in noise figure is directly correlated to the differences in dc current gain. The lowest measured F_min(2 GHz) of HBT's with emitter dimensions 2×(3.5×30) μm², were 1.3, 1.61, and 2.1 dB for x=0.35, 0.30, and 0.25 devices, respectively at I_c=3 mA. The measured results were found to agree well with calculated values over a wide range of collector currents