A novel InGaP/Al/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/As/GaAs CEHBT

A new and interesting InGaP/Al/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/As/GaAs composite-emitter heterojunction bipolar transistor (CEHBT) is fabricated and studied. Based on the insertion of a compositionally linear graded Al/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/As layer, a near-continuous conduction band structure between the InGaP emitter and the GaAs base is developed. Simulation results reveal that a potential spike at the emitter/base heterointerface is completely eliminated. Experimental results show that the CEHBT exhibits good dc performances with dc current gain of 280 and greater than unity at collector current densities of J/sub C/=21kA/cm/sup 2/ and 2.70/spl times/10/sup -5/ A/cm/sup 2/, respectively. A small collector/emitter offset voltage /spl Delta/V/sub CE/ of 80 meV is also obtained. The studied CEHBT exhibits transistor action under an extremely low collector current density (2.7/spl times/10/sup -5/ A/cm/sup 2/) and useful current gains over nine decades of magnitude of collector current density. In microwave characteristics, the unity current gain cutoff frequency f/sub T/=43.2GHz and the maximum oscillation frequency f/sub max/=35.1GHz are achieved for a 3/spl times/20 /spl mu/m/sup 2/ device. Consequently, the studied device shows promise for low supply voltage and low-power circuit applications.     

Double heterojunction bipolar transistor in Al/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/As/GaAs/sub 1-y/Sb/sub y/ system

Double heterojunction bipolar transistors based on the Al/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/As/GaAs/sub 1-y/Sb/sub y/ system are examined. The base layer consists of narrow band gap GaAs/sub 1-y/Sb/sub y/ and the emitter and collector consist of wider band gap Al/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/As. Preliminary experimental results show that AlGaAs/GaAsSb/GaAs DHBTs exhibit a current gain of five and a maximum collector current density of 5*10/sup 4/ A/cm/sup 2/.<>     

High-performance InGaP/GaAs HBTs with compositionally graded bases grown by solid-source MBE

N-p-n InGaP/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) with compositionally graded In/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/As (Be doped) bases have been successfully grown by solid-source molecular beam Epitaxy (SSMBE) using a gallium phosphide (GaP) decomposition source. In this paper, the dc and RF characteristics of HBTs with different indium mole fractions in the graded In/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/As base (x:0 /spl rarr/ ;0.1 and x:0 /spl rarr/ 0.05) are measured to investigate optimum-grading profiles. The measured average current gains, /spl beta/s of a control sample, a 10% graded-base sample and a 5% graded-base sample, are 162, 397 and 362, respectively. To our knowledge, these current gains are the highest values ever reported in compositionally graded-base InGaP/GaAs HBTs with a base sheet resistance R/sub sh/ of /spl sim/200 /spl Omega//sq establishing a new benchmark for InGaP/GaAs HBTs. Furthermore, these compositionally graded-base HBTs show higher unity current/gain cutoff frequency, f/sub T/ and maximum oscillation frequency, f/sub max/. Compared to the control sample with the same base thickness, the base transit time /spl tau//sub B/ of the graded sample is reduced by /spl sim/15% to /spl sim/20% by the induced built-in potential, resulting in an increase of f/sub max/ from 16 to 18.5 GHz in a device with an emitter size of 10/spl times/10 /spl mu/m/sup 2/. Additionally, for the 5% graded-base sample, with a 5/spl times/5 /spl mu/m/sup 2/ emitter region, f/sub T/ and f/sub max/ are 16.3 and 33.8 GHz, respectively, under low-level collector current. These results demonstrate that InGaP/GaAs HBTs with In/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/As graded-base layers (x:0 /spl rarr/ 0.05) have the potential for high-speed analogue to digital converters.     

MIM capacitors using atomic-layer-deposited high-/spl kappa/ (HfO/sub 2/)/sub 1-x/(Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/)/sub x/ dielectrics

Metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors with (HfO/sub 2/)/sub 1-x/(Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/)/sub x/ high-/spl kappa/ dielectric films were investigated for the first time. The results show that both the capacitance density and voltage/temperature coefficients of capacitance (VCC/TCC) values decrease with increasing Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ mole fraction. It was demonstrated that the (HfO/sub 2/)/sub 1-x/(Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/)/sub x/ MIM capacitor with an Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ mole fraction of 0.14 is optimized. It provides a high capacitance density (3.5 fF//spl mu/m/sup 2/) and low VCC values (/spl sim/140 ppm/V/sup 2/) at the same time. In addition, small frequency dependence, low loss tangent, and low leakage current are obtained. Also, no electrical degradation was observed for (HfO/sub 2/)/sub 1-x/(Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/)/sub x/ MIM capacitors after N/sub 2/ annealing at 400/spl deg/C. These results show that the (HfO/sub 2/)/sub 0.86/(Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/)/sub 0.14/ MIM capacitor is very suitable for capacitor applications within the thermal budget of the back end of line process.     

High-temperature thermal stability performance in /spl delta/-doped In/sub 0.425/Al/sub 0.575/As--In/sub 0.65/Ga/sub 0.35/As metamorphic HEMT

We report, to our knowledge, the best high-temperature characteristics and thermal stability of a novel /spl delta/-doped In/sub 0.425/Al/sub 0.575/As--In/sub 0.65/Ga/sub 0.35/As--GaAs metamorphic high-electron mobility transistor. High-temperature device characteristics, including extrinsic transconductance (g/sub m/), drain saturation current density (I/sub DSS/), on/off-state breakdown voltages (BV/sub on//BV/sub GD/), turn-on voltage (V/sub on/), and the gate-voltage swing have been extensively investigated for the gate dimensions of 0.65/spl times/200 /spl mu/m/sup 2/. The cutoff frequency (f/sub T/) and maximum oscillation frequency (f/sub max/), at 300 K, are 55.4 and 77.5 GHz at V/sub DS/=2 V, respectively. Moreover, the distinguished positive thermal threshold coefficient (/spl part/V/sub th///spl part/T) is superiorly as low as to 0.45 mV/K.     

Room-temperature self-organised In/sub 0.5/Ga/sub 0.5/As quantum dot laser on silicon

The first room-temperature operation of In/sub 0.5/Ga/sub 0.5/As quantum dot lasers grown directly on Si substrates with a thin (/spl les/2 /spl mu/m) GaAs buffer layer is reported. The devices are characterised by J/sub th//spl sim/1500 A/cm/sup 2/, output power >50 mW, and large T/sub 0/ (244 K) and constant output slope efficiency (/spl ges/0.3 W/A) in the temperature range 5-95/spl deg/C.     

Ultralow leakage In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As p-i-n photodetector grown on linearly graded metamorphic In/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/P buffered GaAs substrate

A novel top-illuminated In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As p-i-n photodiodes (MM-PINPD) grown on GaAs substrate by using linearly graded metamorphic In/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/P (x graded from 0.49 to 1) buffer layer is reported. The dark current, optical responsivities, noise equivalent power, and operational bandwidth of the MM-PINPD with aperture diameter of 60 /spl mu/m are 13 pA, 0.6 A/W, 3.4/spl times/10/sup -15/ W/Hz/sup 1/2/, and 7.5 GHz, respectively, at 1550 nm. The performances of the MM-PINPD on GaAs are demonstrated to be comparable to those of a similar device made on InGaAs-InP substrate.     

On the theory of 1/f noise of semi-insulating materials

The 1/f noise phenomena associated with devices involving semi-insulating materials, for instance GaAs MESFET's on semi-insulating GaAs, has long been a perplexing problem. In this particular case the 1/f noise corner frequency can be up to 100 MHz before the mean square noise current at the drain is dominated by the Nyquist noise associated with the channel conductance. No reasonable explanation has ever been given, although there are many different theories. 1/f noise is a common phenomena in nature and other devices involving semi-insulating materials. We propose here that this 1/f noise is a bulk phenomena associated with localized high frequency variations and long range low frequency fluctuations, the lowest frequency being limited only by the volume of the material. Specifically the proposal here is that injection of a current I into a semi-insulating material will result in a mean square noise voltage at the point of injection given by v/sub n//sup 2/~=2(kT/q)q/spl Delta/fR(/spl omega//sub c///spl omega/) Volts/sup 2/ where /spl omega//sub c/=1/t/sub t/, for the radian frequencies, /spl omega/, larger than /spl omega//sub c/ which is the reciprocal of the transit time of the carriers. For a long sample and long transit times then this 1/f noise voltage due to current injection will be larger than the Nyquist mean square noise of the sample alone as long as the DC voltage developed across the semi-insulating sample exceeds ((2kT/q)l/sup 2/(/spl omega///spl mu/))/sup 1/2/. This theory then gives the 1/f or 1//spl omega/ frequency dependence. The dc current I might be injected for instance by the substrate current in a GaAs MESFET being injected into the semi-insulating substrate, or gate current in an IGET being injected into the gate insulator.<>     

Long-wavelength In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As-In/sub 0.52/Al/sub 0.48/As large-area avalanche photodiodes and arrays

Large-area (500-/spl mu/m diameter) mesa-structure In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As-In/sub 0.52/Al/sub 0.48/As avalanche photodiodes (APDs) are reported. The dark current density was /spl sim/2.5/spl times/10/sup -2/ nA//spl mu/m/sup 2/ at 90% of breakdown; low surface leakage current density (/spl sim/4.2 pA//spl mu/m) was achieved with wet chemical etching and SiO/sub 2/ passivation. An 18 /spl times/ 18 APD array with uniform distributions of breakdown voltage, dark current, and multiplication gain has also been demonstrated. The APDs in the array achieved 3-dB bandwidth of /spl sim/8 GHz at low gain and a gain-bandwidth product of /spl sim/120 GHz.     

InAs/GaAs quantum dot infrared photodetector (QDIP) with double Al/sub 0.3/Ga/sub 0.7/As blocking barriers

The ten stacked self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dot infrared photodetectors (QDIP) with different Al/sub 0.3/Ga/sub 0.7/As barrier widths and growth temperatures were prepared. Asymmetric current-voltage (I-V) characteristics and 2/spl sim/7.5 /spl mu/m detection window were observed. Peak responsivity of 84 mA/W at -0.4 V and peak specific detectivity of 2.5/spl times/10/sup 9/ cm-Hz/sup 1/2//W at zero bias were observed at 50 K. The characteristics of polarization insensitivity over the incident light and the high background photocurrent suggest that the self-assembled QDIP can be operated at higher temperature (/spl sim/250 K) under normal incidence condition in contrast to quantum well infrared photodetector (QWIP).     

Measurements of InGaP electron ionization coefficient using InGaP-GaAs-InGaP double HBTs

Electron impact ionization coefficients (/spl alpha/) in In/sub 0.52/Ga/sub 0.48/P have been extracted based on the measurements of electron multiplication factor in npn InGaP-GaAs-InGaP double heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs). The electron ionization coefficient of InGaP determined in this brief extends the previously reported data in low electric field by two orders of magnitude down to 1 cm/sup -1/ with the electric field as low as 330 kV/cm.     

High-performance, metamorphic In/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/As tunnel diodes grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Thin In/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/As tunnel junction diodes having compositions from x=0.53 to 0.75 that span a range of bandgap energies from 0.74 to 0.55 eV, were grown on InP and metamorphic, step-graded In/sub x/Al/sub 1-x/As/InP substrates using molecular beam epitaxy and evaluated in the context of thermophotovoltaic (TPV) applications. Both carbon and beryllium were investigated as acceptor dopants. Metamorphic tunnel diodes with a bandgap of 0.60 eV (x=0.69) using carbon acceptor doping displayed highest peak current densities, in excess of 5900 A/cm/sup 2/ at a peak voltage of 0.31 V, within a 200 /spl Aring/ total thickness tunnel junction. Identically doped lattice-matched tunnel diodes with a bandgap of 0.74 eV exhibited lower peak current densities of approximately 2200 A/cm/sup 2/ at a higher peak voltage of 0.36 V, consistent with the theoretical bandgap dependence expected for ideal tunnel diodes. Specific resistivities of the 0.60 eV bandgap devices were in the mid-10/sup -5/ /spl Omega/-cm/sup 2/ range. Together with their 200 /spl Aring/ total thickness, the electrical results make these tunnel junctions promising for TPV applications where low-resistance, thin metamorphic tunnel junctions are desired.     

Characteristics of In/sub x/Al/sub 1-x/N-GaN high-electron mobility field-effect transistor

GaN-based field effect transistors commonly include an Al/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/N barrier layer for confinement of a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in the barrier/GaN interface. Some of the limitations of the Al/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/N-GaN heterostructure can be, in principle, avoided by the use of In/sub x/Al/sub 1-x/N as an alternative barrier, which adds flexibility to the engineering of the polarization-induced charges by using tensile or compressive strain through varying the value of x. Here, the implementation and electrical characterization of an In/sub x/Al/sub 1-x/-GaN high electron mobility transistor with Indium content ranging from x=0.04 to x=0.15 is described. The measured 2DEG carrier concentration in the In/sub 0.04/Al/sub 0.96/N-GaN heterostructure reach 4/spl times/10/sup 13/ cm/sup -2/ at room temperature, and Hall mobility is 480 and 750 cm/sup 2//V /spl middot/ s at 300 and 10 K, respectively. The increase of Indium content in the barrier results in a shift of the transistor threshold voltage and of the peak transconductance toward positive gate values, as well as a decrease in the drain current. This is consistent with the reduction in polarization difference between GaN and In/sub x/Al/sub 1-x/N. Devices with a gate length of 0.7 /spl mu/m exhibit f/sub t/ and f/sub max/ values of 13 and 11 GHz, respectively.     

Effect of Mg doping on the superconducting properties of Cu/sub 1-x/Tl/sub x/Ba/sub 2/Ca/sub 3-y/Mg/sub y/Cu/sub 4/O/sub 12-/spl delta//

Superconducting properties of Cu/sub 1-x/Tl/sub x/Ba/sub 2/Ca/sub 3-y/Mg/sub y/Cu/sub 4/O/sub 12-/spl delta// (Cu/sub 1-x/Tl/sub x/Mg/sub y/-1234) material have been studied in the composition range y=0,1.5,2.25. The zero resistivity critical temperature [T/sub c/(R=0)] was found to increase with the increased concentration of Mg in the unit cell; for y=1.5 [T/sub c/(R=0)]=131 K was achieved which is hitherto highest in Cu/sub 1-x/Tl/sub x/-based superconductors. The X-ray diffraction analyses have shown the formation of a predominant single phase of Cu/sub 0.5/Tl/sub 0.5/Ba/sub 2/Ca/sub 3-y/Mg/sub y/Cu/sub 4/O/sub 12-/spl delta// superconductor with an inclusion of impurity phase. It is observed from the convex shape of the resistivity versus temperature measurements that our as-prepared material was in the region of carrier over-doping, and the number of carriers was optimized by postannealing experiments in air at 400/spl deg/C, 500/spl deg/C, and 600/spl deg/C. The T/sub c/(R=0) was found to increase with postannealing and the best postannealing temperature was found to be 600/spl deg/C. The mechanism of increased T/sub c/(R=0) is understood by carrying out infrared absorption measurements. It was observed through softening of Cu(2)-O/sub A/-Tl apical oxygen mode that improved interplane coupling was a possible source of enhancement of T/sub c/(R=0) to 131 K.     

10-gb/s operation of an In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As p-i-n photodiode on metamorphic InGaP buffered semi-insulating GaAs substrate

The SONET OC-192 receiving performance of In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As p-i-n photodiode grown on linearly graded metamorphic In/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/P buffered GaAs substrate is reported. With a low-cost TO-46 package, such a device exhibits a frequency bandwidth up to 8 GHz, a bit-error rate (BER) of 10/sup -9/ at 10 Gb/s, a sensitivity of -17.8 dBm, and a noise equivalent power of 3.4/spl times/10/sup -15/ W/Hz/sup 1/2/ owing to its ultralow dark current of 3.6/spl times/10/sup -7/ A/cm/sup 2/. Eye diagram analysis at 10 Gb/s without transimpedance amplification reveals a statistically distributed Q-factor of 8.21, corresponding to a minimum BER of 1.1/spl times/10/sup -16/ at receiving power of -6 dBm.     

Formation of Ni germano-silicide on single crystalline Si/sub 0.3/Ge/sub 0.7//Si

We have studied the Ni and Co germano-silicide on Si/sub 0.3/Ge/sub 0.7//Si. The Ni germano-silicide shows a low sheet resistance of 4-6 /spl Omega///spl square/on both P/sup +/N and N/sup +/P junctions, which is much smaller than Co germano-silicide. In addition, small junction leakage currents of 3/spl times/10/sup -8/ A/cm/sup 2/ and 2/spl times/10/sup -7/ A/cm/sup 2/ are obtained for Ni germano-silicide on P/sup +/N and N/sup +/P junctions, respectively. The good germano-silicide integrity is due to the relatively uniform thickness as observed by cross-sectional TEM.     

High breakdown voltage (Al/sub 0.3/Ga/sub 0.7/)/sub 0.5/In/sub 0.5/P/InGaAs quasi-enhancement-mode pHEMT with field-plate technology

A high breakdown voltage and a high turn-on voltage (Al/sub 0.3/Ga/sub 0.7/)/sub 0.5/In/sub 0.5/P/InGaAs quasi-enhancement-mode (E-mode) pseudomorphic HEMT (pHEMTs) with field-plate (FP) process is reported for the first time. Between gate and drain terminal, the transistor has a FP metal of 1 /spl mu/m, which is connected to a source terminal. The fabricated 0.5/spl times/150 /spl mu/m/sup 2/ device can be operated with gate voltage up to 1.6 V owing to its high Schottky turn-on voltage (V/sub ON/=0.85 V), which corresponds to a high drain-to-source current (I/sub ds/) of 420 mA/mm when drain-to-source voltage (V/sub ds/) is 3.5 V. By adopting the FP technology and large barrier height (Al/sub 0.3/Ga/sub 0.7/)/sub 0.5/In/sub 0.5/P layer design, the device achieved a high breakdown voltage of -47 V. The measured maximum transconductance, current gain cutoff frequency and maximum oscillation frequency are 370 mS/mm, 22 GHz , and 85 GHz, respectively. Under 5.2-GHz operation, a 15.2 dBm (220 mW/mm) and a 17.8 dBm (405 mW/mm) saturated output power can be achieved when drain voltage are 3.5 and 20 V. These characteristics demonstrate that the field-plated (Al/sub 0.3/Ga/sub 0.7/)/sub 0.5/In/sub 0.5/P E-mode pHEMTs have great potential for microwave power device applications.     

High performance quantum dot lasers on GaAs substrates operating in 1.5 /spl mu/m range

Stacked InAs/InGaAs quantum dots are used as an active media of metamorphic InGaAs-InGaAlAs lasers grown on GaAs substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. High quantum efficiency (/spl eta//sub i/>60%) and low internal losses (/spl alpha/<3-4 cm/sup -1/) are realised. The transparency current density per single QD layer is estimated as /spl sim/70 A/cm/sup 2/ and the characteristic temperature is 60 K (20-85/spl deg/C). The emission wavelength exceeds 1.51 /spl mu/m at temperatures above 60/spl deg/C.     

Integrated high-/spl kappa/ (/spl kappa/ /spl sim/19) MIM capacitor with Cu/low-/spl kappa/ interconnects for RF application

We demonstrate a high-performance metal-high /spl kappa/ insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor integrated with a Cu/low-/spl kappa/ backend interconnection. The high-/spl kappa/ used was laminated HfO/sub 2/-Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ with effective /spl kappa/ /spl sim/19 and the low-/spl kappa/ dielectric used was Black Diamond with /spl kappa/ /spl sim/2.9. The MIM capacitor (/spl sim/13.4 fF//spl mu/m/sup 2/) achieved a Q-factor /spl sim/53 at 2.5 GHz and 11.7 pF. The resonant frequency f/sub r/ was 21% higher in comparison to an equivalently integrated Si/sub 3/N/sub 4/-MIM capacitor (/spl sim/0.93 fF//spl mu/m/sup 2/) having similar capacitance 11.2 pF. The impacts of high-/spl kappa/ insulator and low-/spl kappa/ interconnect dielectric on the mechanism for resonant frequency improvement are distinguished using equivalent circuit analysis. This letter suggests that integrated high-/spl kappa/ MIM could be a promising alternative capacitor structure for future high-performance RF applications.